Silly old bear

[moonshadows]

“Lily?” Greg asked as my golem paced around the office. “Something wrong?”

“No. Something right.”

There! That familiar ripple of energy, a bullet shot from the past. Instantly, Claudia was there with me.

“Miss Donovan! What-”

The two agents in the office – Dani and Craig – followed Greg as he hurried through the umbilicus after us and into the late-afternoon sunlight. Right on schedule, the DeLorean appeared and pulled a bootlegger’s turn, roaring towards us only to come to a controlled, gentle stop.

“Barry’s back,” Dani exclaimed, excited and terrified at the news she thought her partner would bring with him.

The driver’s door opened, and Artie had barely climbed out before Claudia and I were hugging him desperately. A century and a half didn’t do much to ease grief when one happened to be a construct made of human emotion.

“Who…” Greg thought better of the question.

Awkwardly, Jeffers climbed out. “The Regents have been had,” he announced. “Miss Donovan was already Caretaker, and the Warehouse was already aware. She, uh, recognized that I was a tame artifact.”

“So you didn’t get the info?” Craig asked.

My Caretaker laughed as she released Artie. “Please, the only one who got info that day was me. You have the envelope? Good. That’s Regent eyes only, am I clear?”

“Yes, Miss Donovan,” they chorused.

I had the golem grab the plate of oatmeal scotchies before any of the agents could ask, and spirited them away to the Deep Core before returning.

“I see you still wear ripped clothes, kiddo,” Artie teased.

She grinned. “Hey, gramps, I gotta scandalize them somehow.”

Greg’s eyes widened. “Sir, are you…Arthur Nielsen?”

“Artie,” he corrected lightly. The agents gasped in collective awe – even from Barry Jeffers, who hadn’t quite connected the Artie of Warehouse legend with the pudgy man who’d escorted him here. He smiled, that crooked little smirk we hadn’t seen in over a hundred years. “I see you’ve heard of me.”

“I tell stories about my favorite artifact.”

He turned to the golem, sweet hope and adoration swirling around him. “I’m still your favorite?”

“Good Artie-fact,” the golem whispered, taking its crushing hug like a man. Claudia was crying; she got the next one.

“I’ve never seen Miss D. cry,” Craig whispered nervously.

Dani elbowed him. “She’s still human. Artie Nielsen was basically her father, and he’s been dead for over a century. I’m sure Lily would be crying, too, if she could.”

Greg sidled over to join them. “He was the Warehouse Husband in charge when Lily woke up. She loves all her Husbands, but he was really the first.”

“Sir? Artie?” Dani flushed lightly. “Could we get holos with you?”

“Wait wait wait wait.” Claudia looked around sharply. “There were supposed to be – where are my…?”

“Put them in the Deep Core,” the golem assured her.

“Yesssss!” She pumped one fist victoriously, laughing with her best evil cackle. “An entire batch, just for me.”

Artie grinned. “Uh…not quite. I, uh, ate one as I was packing them up. That’s a very good evil laugh, by the way.”

“Awww, Artie!” The agents, even Greg, looked discomfited to see her whining like a teenager. “Those were supposed to be for meeeee.”

“And they are! Just…not…that one.”

Maturely, she stuck her tongue out at him. “Alright, get an Eye out here and let’s take some holos.”

Singly, in pairs, and as a group, holos were taken. The last one was Claudia with Artie hugging her.

She grinned as the Eye retreated, but it faded. “I miss you, geezer. The Warehouse does, too. Look…I know you have to go back, just…hug us both for us, okay?”

“I will, Claudia,” he promised, hugging her again, fighting tears. “I promise. And…I’m proud of you. Have been since the day you broke into the Warehouse, put me in electrified handcuffs, and dragged me off to save your brother.”

Claudia sniffled and punched his shoulder lightly. “Go on, get out of here before the Warehouse decides to break space-time again.”

Nodding, he turned away to climb back into the car, but stopped. “Uh…Claudia…” he waved her over, out of earshot of the other agents. “There’s something I’ve never told you. A-and it seems only right that I tell you now. The, uh, day I erased when I used the astrolabe. I couldn’t have found it without your help, of course.”

“Well, duh.”

“It was down a narrow tunnel. You climbed in because I wouldn’t fit.”

“Aaaand?”

He gave her a small smile. “You said, and I quote, Hey, Pooh-bear, you want to let me do that?” The smile widened as she snickered. “I can just picture you trying to get through here. ‘Oh, help and bother, I’m stuck!’ ‘I’m so rumbly in my tumbly!’ Silly old bear.”

Claudia was laughing now. “Oh, man, that’s great! I can see why you never told me. I’m so rumbly in my tumbly! Thanks, Artie.” Once more, she hugged him.

When she retreated, the golem took her place. “I love you. I miss you.”

“I wish there were something I could do to make it hurt less,” he whispered.

“You gave me your whole life. Artifacts break; nothing can change that. All I can do is keep the pieces and remember them.”

“You kept my…”

“You’re the only non-Caretaker whose bones reside in the Deep Core.”

There were no words for the emotions he was feeling, only a tight hug.

“I love you, Lily. I’m sorry for all the times I ever resented you.”

The golem kissed him on the temple. “I forgive you. Now go, before I decide to break space-time again and keep you.”

With a rueful smile, he climbed into the car and sped away. Three sonic booms marked his return to the past.