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adapted-batteries · 8 years

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You Sultry Land Pirates Ruined My Dig! Chapter 1

Fandom: The Librarians

Rating: General Audiences/sfw

Ships: a little bit Jazekiel, little bit Jassandra, and some Cassekiel in a bit

In a world where Cassandra and Ezekiel are top tier land pirates, and Stone is an expert in archeology and history but new to being out in the field, there is a weird, impenetrable tomb in some Sumerian ruins, with things that don’t quite make sense.

Inspired by the lovely story line (and outfits) in episode 3x09 “And the Fatal Separation” where Cassandra and Ezekiel smuggle Stone, Baird, and Flynn in while they pose as land pirates.

Posted on my Ao3 here.

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3 , Chapter 4

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Cassandra hadn’t imagined her life ever ending up like this, running around with Ezekiel acquiring items of interest for buyers. Risky, dangerous, but well-paying work, that was for sure. The job grew on her though; now she was so good at it she couldn’t think of doing anything else. Ezekiel had been a thief for years before they met, though. In fact, that’s how they met.

Desperate for cash and a better paying job, Cassandra found a listing on a forum for “analytical analysis of action plans” with a salary listed as “varying, but well worth it.” No requirements for a degree or diploma, and she was great at analyzing stuff. Anything to have more cash, maybe pay for surgery one day, though she wasn’t quite ready to get rid of her brain tumor since it was the reason she could do that job.

In hindsight, shady job off a forum couldn’t have ever been good, but sometimes people don’t think things through. She showed up to what looked like an abandoned warehouse and quickly got roped into assessing a tactical plan to infiltrate a museum archive for some artifact of interest. It got even worse when her new boss decided she would be the least suspicious of the man’s thugs to go retrieve this artifact, and she better do it or there would be a bullet where her tumor was.

Weirdly enough, it wasn’t very hard to get into the museum. All she needed was the right questions and interests to get the archivist to take her into the vault for the sake of research. She already looked the part of an academic with her somewhat eclectic style of dress and innocent complexion.

However, when they both got down there, they weren’t the only ones interested in the artifact. An Asian boy with messy dark hair was currently hacking into the keypad on the wall. The archivist was livid, the old lady suddenly yelling at the top of her lungs. She startled the thief, who messed up his task and set off an alarm throughout the whole floor. According to the angry archivist, it was a security alert that would notify the police station down the block.

In a panic, the boy stood and strode towards Cassandra. Not prepared for this, she froze, willing him not to hurt her, but instead he hugged her. “Cousin! I did not know you in town! It is good to see you!” he exclaimed in a very thick, stereotypical Asian accent. Cassandra had no clue what was going on. “I got lost, you know, like I do, but it is a good thing you showed up. We should go visit Mum, she love to talk with you.” He turned her by the shoulders and gave a rather forceful shove forward, whispering into her ear, now in an Australian accent, “Play up ‘coz I know you’re here for the ring. If we get out of here alive I won’t kill you.”

“Oh yes, Mum will be overjoyed to see me, wouldn’t she? Let’s go back home,” Cassandra said, attempting to keep the quiver out of her voice. She let him lead her through a backdoor into an alley behind the museum, from there they broke into a run.

He took her to a park and found a grove of trees and bushes they could hide in. “Alright I just saved you jail time, so spill it,” he barked. “Who are you working for? Did they send you for the ring?”

“What? Uh yeah, I guess? They didn’t tell me what I was getting. I didn’t even want to go either, I’m not a thief like you!” She spat, adrenaline fueling her words.

“I’ll have you know I’m the best thief out there and if it wasn’t for you I wouldn’t have gotten caught!” he retorted.

“I don’t care if you’re the best, I’m not supposed to be doing this! I should be in school somewhere, not stealing a mysterious artifact for a mob boss because I can’t get a job,” she responded, mostly to herself.

“Well you must be good enough if they trusted to you get it,” the boy said, trying to calm down. “Who are you?”

“I’m Cassandra, I’m no one.” A weird response, but the boy didn’t seem to mind. Actually, he seemed to be planning something.

“Look, a person in my...business...could use someone like you, a pretty face who can get in and get out. It pays well, just not legally, and you don’t seem too keen to return to your current job,” he suggested.

“I am not going to steal for a living!” she said hysterically, turning around and walking a few paces before turning back around.

“Well it seems like you already were,” he started, looking at her with almost pity. “Ezekiel Jones, world-class thief,” he greeted, offering her his hand. Realizing she was currently on the run from the police, she shook it.

“Cassandra Cillian, uh, genius I guess?” she stammered.

“Genius, eh? How come you’re in my line of work?” he asked her, a smug grin on his face.

Cassandra tapped her temple. “Tumor. Made me drop out of school, ruined my life. But I can do quantum physics in my head, see the patterns where there is none, figure out stuff.”

“So you’re like Sherlock Holmes?” he laughed.

“Uh, if Sherlock had visual hallucinations due to a tumor and not drugs, then yes, I’m like Sherlock Holmes,” she concluded, confused by the analogy.

“Well Sherlock, we can’t say in the bushes forever. This job is bust, thanks to you,” she narrowed her eyes at him, “but there’s plenty more. Let’s get going.”

Just like that she followed him, and for the next five years they worked their way up in the crime ranks, becoming one of the best duos for acquiring rare artifacts and art. The job certainly wasn’t boring; in fact after the first few steals, they had enough to start working on their “image” which could be best described as “edgy, sexy, and intimidating.” It became their trademark almost, besides their reputation for getting just about anything that paid well.

Ezekiel really was a world-class thief. It was almost scary how well he could steal and break into places, but also an odd relief to have him working with her and not against her. He could care less that she tripped out sometimes when the brain grape (a name he coined for her tumor which stuck) as long as she got him the intel and planned out how to get whatever they were stealing that day.

They actually worked really well together, something Ezekiel didn’t think he’d ever do. He had been on his own for years before they met, and it took a bit to get him to trust Cassandra and not treat her like a walking computer. He started training her sort of, and then they both did jobs together, and it just clicked.

It helped Cassandra ended up being a really good actress, especially in her “sexy land pirate who could also kill you in an instant” Amy Adamantite act which they used almost every job. He had fun playing Mr. Zet too; it was quite fun to look great, and that perk more than once had gotten both of them info they couldn’t have gotten elsewhere (some security guards and secretaries and curators were way too thirsty). Their most recent outfits were particularly fun to wear; dark purples and blacks and leather and fringe that looked great on her, and black waistcoat vest and maroon skinny jeans and leather armband for himself. He did get a little distracted with the feathers that dangled down the left side of his face from a thin leather head band, but it definitely completed the outfit.

Today that perk was going to be put to use. They were after an artifact which a Dr. Jacob Stone was leading a dig on in southwestern Iraq; a Sumerian tablet of some sort. The interested parties normally didn’t tell much about what they wanted, just enough to be able to identify it. Conveniently the archaeological community decided to excavate the ruins where the buyer suspected this tablet was, and the dig actually made Cassandra and Ezekiel’s job easier. Stone and his team would do all the work finding it, then they would steal it. Simple.

Deciding to play up to curious researchers, they went to the dig site looking for the professor. The academic was new to it all from what Cassandra had found. The cowboy had been publishing with a pen name but had recently revealed himself and started working for an English university in their archaeology department which had gotten him out here. The dig was a few miles outside the nearest town, a convenient location. The sun had just about set, but lights were on throughout the camp that had set up next to a load of stone ruins.

Upon inquiry, it was discovered that the professor had gone into town in search for drink. Cassandra saw it a golden opportunity to get Dr. Stone to give them all the information they needed. After a quick stop at their hotel to switch from academics to sexy land pirates, they easily found the one tavern in the town. A steady stream of customers came and left from the doors, giving glimpses into the sounds and smells from inside.

It took a bit to find Dr. Stone in the midst of everyone wearing white and tan clothes/robes and various colored turbans, until he spoke. Though it was some form of Arabic, he somehow put an Oklahoman twang to it, along with a booming laugh to whatever he said. The bartender chuckled and nodded, more amused by the buzzed Oklahoman than whatever he had said. He was sitting alone unlike everyone else in the bar.

“Alright, I’m going to talk to him first. If and when I need you, I’ll do the signal, so watch me,” Cassandra said under her breath as she leaned over to Ezekiel. “Don’t do anything to get us kicked out please.”

“I’ll try my best, though I should say the same to you since I don’t see any ladies nearby,” Ezekiel responded, scanning the smokey room. His observation was correct that he could tell, but the patrons didn’t seem startled by their entrance, instead absorbed in drink, smoke, or conversation.

“Noted. Good thing I’m capable of taking care of myself,” she said, straightening her back as she got into character. With a somewhat deep breath, she strutted over to the bar next to the archaeologist as the bartender moved off to some other customers. It took a second for him to realize she was there; he jumped slightly in his seat before giving her a look over.

“Well you’re not from around here,” he greeted. His voice was rich, low, and thick with the country accent. He also had a smirk on his face as he looked her over, a sign that this persona would probably get her somewhere.

“Nope, I’m not, and neither are you. Dr. Stone I presume?” she purred, looking intently at him.

“Yup. But I don’t know you. Gotta name, sweetheart?” he asked, taking another drink of some dark, slightly frothy liquid, then setting it down somewhat clumsily.

Internally she rolled her eyes, but kept her front with a smirk of her own. “Amy Adamantine, a...connoisseur of antiquities, you could say.”

“Lucky for you I’m a famous historian and archaeologist,” he chuckled, puffing up his chest slightly like a bird trying to impress a potential mate.

Deciding to toy with him, Cassandra decided to be a little sassy. “Hmm, if you’re so famous, why haven’t I heard much about you?” Dr. Stone looked a little taken aback, his pompous attitude faltering a bit.

“Well, I’ve used a pen name for a while, that may be why,” he started, watching her expression for the recognition he wanted. “Have you heard of a Dr. Thompson?”

“Maybe, could you describe some of your work?” she asked, hoping to let him self-repair his ego. He perked up at her question.

Cassandra did not realize that Stone would go on for five minutes about things she never heard nor cared about. She attempted to get him back on track with the dig, but he kept getting reminded of various papers he’d written over the years, the alcohol making him a little scatterbrained.

By now Ezekiel had slowly moved to one end of the bartop, keeping his distance but watching with a drink in hand. Deciding now was the right time, Cassandra, who had been leaning on her left hand, elbow against the countertop, covertly tapped her left temple twice with her index and middle finger together. At the signal, Ezekiel nodded once, barely observable, before standing up and sitting next to Dr. Stone.

Cassandra cleared her throat to get his attention and interrupt his analysis on some Renaissance era painting. “Dr. Stone, this is my colleague, Mr. Ket.”

At Ezekiel’s arrival, Dr. Stone’s jaw literally dropped. It only lasted a second before he recovered himself, but Cassandra could tell that Ezekiel was going to get more information tonight. The archaeologist shook his head a bit, trying to clear his thoughts. He offered his hand to him as he spoke, “Evenin’, Mr. Ket. Nice to meet ya.”

“You as well, Dr. Stone.” Ezekiel returned the shake, being as smooth as he could. “So you have an excavation outside of town, correct?”

“Hmm? Oh, uh, yeah, I do. We’re goin’ through some ancient Sumerian ruins. It’s taken a bit, but we’ve found some interestin’ things down there,” Dr. Stone answered, fumbling over his words.

“Interesting things, like what?” Ezekiel pressed, genuinely intrigued. He leaned forward ever so slightly, which Dr. Stone mimicked, completely forgetting Cassandra was next to him.

“Well, we’ve found some nice pottery, a few tablets,” he paused, dramatically putting up a hand like he was trying to tell a secret, but not actually lowering his voice, “and we found what I think is a burial chamber of some sort. But we can’t get in it just yet.”

“That is fascinating,” Ezekiel purred. He glanced over to Cassandra to see where she suggested he’d go with this. Judging off Dr. Stone’s initial reaction, she gave a quick glance to the back of his head then winked and nodded, their sign for “chat them up because they will spill it.” Ezekiel looked back to Dr. Stone, putting on his most seductive expression. “Do you think,” he started, letting his fingers walk slowly up the drunk man’s chest as he talked, “there could be a chance my colleague and I could see this dig of yours?” Ezekiel gently put his index finger under Dr. Stone’s chin.

Dr. Stone swallowed hard before speaking. “Sh….sure, definitely. You can, uh, stop by tomorrow mornin’.” Satisfied with that answer, Ezekiel rewarded him with a kiss, pulling him in with the finger still under his chin. It wasn’t long, but enough to keep Dr. Stone moldable in their hands. “Or, um, you can visit tonight,” he rumbled.

“Hmmm, that’s a tempting offer I admit, however I don’t want to leave my colleague alone in an unfamiliar city,” Ezekiel fibbed, knowing full well Cassandra could take care of herself.

Ezekiel's answer reminded Dr. Stone that she still existed; he followed Ezekiel’s eyes behind him to look at her. “ O...oh, yes, of course,” he stammered, sitting up in his chair from where he had really leaned into Ezekiel’s space. “I should be gettin’ back to camp before it’s too late in the night anyway. It was nice meeting ya’ll.”

“I look forward to seeing your dig,” Cassandra responded. Dr. Stone nodded to her and Ezekiel before slapping some money on the counter to catch the bartender’s attention. He then stood up from the stool, nodded again to both of them like he forgot he just did it, and left the bar. “I’d say that went rather well,” Cassandra giggled.

“Hey, anytime I get to kiss hot targets and get information from them, I call that a win,” Ezekiel clarified, clearly content with his performance.

“I can’t argue with that,” she said, standing up from the bar. “I say it’s time to call it a night, then we’ll give your plaything a visit tomorrow.”

“Seconded,” Ezekiel yawned, not handling the jet lag as well as Cassandra was. “If he initiates, can I-”

“It probably wouldn’t be a good idea if you banged the person we’re gonna steal from,” she said, cutting off his question. He huffed, but nodded in understanding, finishing the last of his drink.

“Yeah, you’re right. But he was just so yummy,” Ezekiel confided in an exaggerated tone, knowing it’d make Cassandra squirm. She scrunched up her nose at his statement, but decided not to give in to his bait like he wanted, instead digging out some currency to pay for his drink (she always handled the finances).

“Come on, let’s go.” She grabbed his wrist gently and lead him out of the bar.

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Ch 1 post notes

So I decided to put this pre-operation for Cassandra because I feel we don’t know a whole lot about her new ability yet, or at least I don’t know enough to write it confidently.

Also I love the idea of Stone being bi and really confused on who to focus on with these two sexy people on either side of him. Sadly this story won’t have much more Jazekiel or Jassandra, but I’m most likely gonna write some one-shots for both in this universe though cuz it’d be fun.

#Cassandra and Ezekiel are mercenaries/land pirates #You Sultry Land Pirates Ruined My Dig!#cassandra cillian #ezekiel jones #jacob stone #jake stone #land pirate au #stone's an archaeologist #the librarians fic #flynn writes #jazekiel #jassandra

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adapted-batteries · 8 years

Text

You Sultry Land Pirates Ruined My Dig! Chapter 3

Fandom: The Librarians

Rating: General Audiences/sfw

Ships: a little bit Jazekiel, little bit Jassandra, and some Cassekiel in a bit

Inspired by the lovely story line (and outfits) in episode 3x09 “And the Fatal Separation” where Cassandra and Ezekiel smuggle Stone, Baird, and Flynn in while they pose as land pirates.

Posted on my Ao3 here.

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4

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After a break (which turned into a mini nap, a common way she recovered), Cassandra went back to work, with Ezekiel’s watchful eye on her every move. With the start she made for herself, she was able to construct a few phrases using the Sumerian letters and the Hebrew YHWH.

“We have no clue of knowing those people’s attitude to the Hebrew god, and throughout the time later it fluctuated from indifference to hatred. With that in mind I’ve gotten some not so nice phrases, and some better phrases we can try,” Cassandra concluded, zipping up her boots. They decided their darkest outfits would be best for sneaking, which also happened to be their sexy land pirate outfits at the moment as their last job ruined their full on black outfits (they both learned fire is not fun when it is on your body).

“Great. I don’t know what type of reset the door has, but that won’t be too hard to figure out,” Ezekiel said as he sorted tools into a small bag. Not knowing what they’d encounter tonight, he was bringing everything he had. “When you read the sentences, read it in map grid style ‘cos I don’t know the letters like you do.”

“Can do. You got all you need?” she asked picking up her own bag, with a couple things in it.

“Yeah, I hope.” He put his bag on his back and looked at her, grinning. “Let’s go rob a tomb.”

They arrived at the dig an hour after midnight, to ensure everyone was either gone or asleep. It was quiet, only the rustling of some canvas as a light wind blew through, carrying chill night air. There were no lights on in any of the tents, nor anyone about at 1 am. For the most part they skirted the tents to prevent as much chance of being seen as possible.

Cassandra led them through the dig by memory, trying to avoid any flashlight use until they were well below the surface. Thankfully they hadn’t done any major excavations after the two had left; within a couple minutes they arrived at the bottom of the mansion, squinting through the dark at the door.

“Hold a light up for me,” Ezekiel whispered, getting a closer look at the door. She did as requested, shining the modified flashlight at him, providing dim but useable light.

“Ok, I’ll give you coordinates, you press. Let me know if anything happens,” Cassandra said, remembering the phrases she had picked. “Ready?”

“Go for it,” he answered, standing beside the door so he didn’t block the light.

“Let’s see how well they stuck to Southern Sumerian syntax,” she breathed. “Ok, B two, B four, A two-”

“Hold it, after A two, something clicked on the other side differently from when I pressed the first two, probably a reset. So the first two symbols must have been right,” Ezekiel hissed, lifting his head from where he was pressed against the wall to listen.

Cassandra swiped one hand in the air, carefully controlling her movements as if it would keep her from overloading. “Ok, hmm...I can modify the phrase I think...yeah that may work. Ok so B two, B four, D one-”

Ezekiel cut her off again. “Same thing. Next.”

“Um...ah ok, B two, B four, C one,” she paused, assuming he’d cut her off again.

“Didn’t reset. Keep going,” he whispered.

“D three, D five, E one-”

“That reset,” Ezekiel cut in again.

“That’s ok, The besides the E one symbol, that was a whole word. Now I can get rid of those phrases,” she thought out loud, swiping at the air more. “Ok it has to be one of these three phrases, because the others wouldn’t make sense.”

“Three’s a nice number from four hundred fifty,” he chimed, trying to encourage her.

“Well I still don’t know how long this code is. I’m hoping they stick to what I’ve compiled,” she responded.

Apparently the third phrase was the key. Something behind the stone ground and shifted, allowing Ezekiel to push the door into the chamber before it slid to the side on a track. They picked an odd phrase, Cassandra thought, even for the weird stuff they had encountered over the years. “Why would they guard a door with the phrase ‘Do not let God enter’?” She asked the musty air that poured out of the chamber.

“Who knows, maybe it was an inside joke for all we know,” Ezekiel said as he flicked on his own flashlight and looked in the room. It sloped down into the earth, steep enough they would need to watch their steps. It must have went down over twenty feet because the angled ceiling cut off his view from the bottom. “I don’t see anything so far. It’s steep, so hold on to me.”

Giving one last glance up to the lip of the pit, and thankfully seeing no one, Cassandra linked her right arm with his left. “Ok, let’s go. I don’t want to spend too long down here,” she whispered into his ear before looking down the slope.

Ezekiel led them down in a slow shuffle, stopping every few feet to examine the bricked walls and floor for any traps. However, nothing happened as they reached the bottom. The floor leveled out but there was only a few feet until another stone wall and door stopped them. Pulling away from Cassandra, he checked the door, seeing no symbols or anything suggesting it was locked. He pushed the slab to the side, with some strain, until they could both slip through the space.

The air in this narrow room was not pleasant. Something had died in here a long time ago and no air had gotten out. Both put their sleeves over their noses while Ezekiel checked for more traps. This time he found something. The ground had six-inch square tiles two feet from the doorway, different from the slope they had just descended. All of the tiles had things on them, some were symbols like the ones on the entrance, but others were shapes, hieroglyphs. “You see the floor, Cass?” he asked, flicking his flashlight from tile to tile. They didn’t have too many options per row, since there were only three tiles, but there were probably twenty rows that stretched into the room.

“Yeah, that’s a mix of stuff there. I know the symbols that match those above, but the others are images. It could be a long shot, but I think this may be a type of brain teaser. You know those pictures where if you read the drawings and words right, it says a phrase? Like the number 4 in the middle of the word ‘stance’ would be ‘for instance.’ I think it’s one of those,” she suggested, studying the floor intently. “Only problem is I don’t know for sure what those hieroglyphs mean as the people who made this thought of them.”

“There are several ways to work around a floor puzzle,” Ezekiel added. “I can try the first row and see what happens, or better yet, what doesn’t do anything, and you can go from there. It just depends on how sensitive these tiles are.” He always brought a couple heavy stones with him when he knew there was a chance for a possibly trapped tomb raid like this. He took one out of his bag and unwrapped the cloth he had it in to keep it from clanking against other metal things, looking at the tiles to pick one. “Any suggestions for a first try?”

“Um, well there’s one neo-Hebrew symbol in the first row, on the left, maybe try that?” She suggested, backing up against the wall just in case.

“Why not,” he said, gently tossing the stone onto the tile which then indented into the ground. They both froze, holding their breath for any noise, but nothing happened. “Cool, got it first try. Ok so next row,” he said, replacing the stone with his left foot, “is there anything that makes sense?”

“Well, all three could go next, but the row after has a picture which makes things different. Once I know the next, it will limit what sentences or phrases I can make,” she said.

“Ok, going for the middle then,” he decided, tossing his rock diagonally from his foot. The tile pressed down, but this time there was the sound of shifting stone in the wall on the right. A short spear whizzed in front of Ezekiel at high speed, going into a hole on the other side. Another grinding sound happened, and another spear flew by, this time from the left wall. He crouched and grabbed the rock, halting the spear trap. “Ok, not the middle.”

“Try the left one then,” she suggested, calculating what phrases could come from that path. He complied, dropping the stone in front of him. The tile depressed, triggering nothing. “Ok good. Now there’s two main ways this could go. It could have the hieroglyph, though I’m not sure if it’s supposed to represent a man running from a snakes or running into water...neither really make sense.”

“I can always work through with the rock method,” he suggested.

“It could be a metaphorical meaning, or partial, like the emphasis of running to something-”

“WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?!” a voice boomed behind Cassandra. She squeaked and jumped instinctively to her right, away from the voice without knocking Ezekiel over. Ezekiel aimed his flashlight at the intruder, revealing Dr. Stone. He was furious, face going red. “You sultry land pirates ruined my dig! In the middle of the night no less! Of course you weren’t antiques dealers, not the legit ones anyway.” He mumbled the last part to himself, but not low enough they couldn’t hear it.

“Hey! We happen to be very good at what we do,” Ezekiel retorted, failing to restrain himself.

With the element of surprise, Dr. Stone leaped at Ezekiel, locking an arm around his neck to drag him off the tiles. He quickly put Ezekiel in between himself and Cassandra, preventing her from firing the taser she was about to use. “Now, before you try anything, I can and will knock your buddy out,” he growled. Ezekiel sputtered and squirmed as Dr. Stone’s grip was none too delicate, which apparently amused the archaeologist. “I’ve been in too many bar fights to let your little scrawny ass get away, son.”

“Let him go, or I’ll-” Cassandra started, but Dr. Stone wasn’t the least bit intimidated.

“Or you’ll what? Hmm?” he pressed, trying to overpower her. When she didn’t respond, he chuckled bitterly. “That’s what I thought. You know, I’ve got no reason to keep your friend awake,” he decided, tightening his headlock. Ezekiel coughed, trying to kick out against the wall to unbalance Dr. Stone, but he was planted.

“No! Don’t-” Cassandra reached towards them, but somehow Dr. Stone managed to knock out Ezekiel in seconds before she could do anything. She tried to math her way out, try to see if she could get both herself and Ezekiel out of this, but her brain grape decided it had enough use for one day, making her head hurt and the ground suddenly wobble.

Instinctively, Dr. Stone dropped Ezekiel to the side and caught her before she tumbled onto the tiles. “You could’ve made a mess there,” he said, pulling her arms behind her back to restrain her, but not as rough as he could’ve.

“No...spears, would’ve missed me, ow,” she sucked in a breath in pain, squinting her eyes shut until it passed.

“Normally I’d not help the folks breaking into my site, but I’m feeling a little generous,” he mumbled, setting her down on the ground. He then went back over to Ezekiel and rummaged through his bag, finding what he wanted: rope. He bound Ezekiel first, then used the rest to tie her arms and legs to restrict most of her movement so she couldn’t run. “I can carry him, but I can’t carry you both, and I’d rather keep him unconscious.”

Cassandra figured her best bet was to comply until Ezekiel was awake; it’d be hard to somehow drag him out of camp once she managed to untie herself. So she followed behind him, attached to Ezekiel who he was fireman-carrying back to camp. No one else was up in the camp; she thought about making a ruckus but there wouldn’t be any point.

Dr. Stone’s tent was half the size of the artifact tent, enough room for a cot, a chair, a foldable table with papers and books on it, and space to walk between them. For lack of space, he put Ezekiel on the cot, and motioned for Cassandra to sit in the chair, leaving them tethered together. He had turned on a small lamp so they could see.

“Now, I should be furious with you both, but we’ve been stuck on that door for a week, and you cracked it within a day. How?” He asked, anger still in his voice, but less than it had been before.

“I’m sure if you had the resources we did, you would have had it open just as quickly,” she responded, not making eye contact with him. Thankfully she could concern herself with watching Ezekiel breathe slowly.

He noticed her concern, it painted her face. “He’ll be fine. Maybe a sour headache in the morning, but he’ll live. Cutting off the artery knocks someone out quicker than the airway,” he explained. She looked at him like she wanted to take his head off, but he kept going. “Why this life? With skills like that you be the top of your specialty in academia.”

“I didn’t get a choice. And he’s not cut out for the academic life, too stationary for him,” she responded, glancing at Ezekiel again before looking back to Dr. Stone. He stared at her for a few moments, thinking about something.

“What if I don’t turn you two in, if you help me get to the end of that tomb?” he asked, eyeing her suspiciously. “And you can’t take whatever ends up being in there either, obviously it’s going to a museum for further study.”

At the mention of museum, Ezekiel moaned, mumbling incoherently, before going quiet again. Dr. Stone looked over at the still-unconscious thief on his bed, confused, before looking back to her. She shrugged, as if it was something he did often.

“How do I know you won’t turn us in?” Cassandra asked, already planning away in her head.

“Once I get to whatever’s at the end of all that, I could care less where you two end up running off to. It could very well be the find of the decade,” he clarified, quite obviously thinking about the fame he was going to get in the archeology world.

She looked back over to Ezekiel, knowing he’d hate her in the morning, but love her again when they got to the end of this mess. “We’ll do it. And I’ll keep him in line, don’t worry,” she said. He watched her for a few moments, studying her face.

“Much appreciated,” he responded, dripping with sarcasm.

Though she was tired, she was still curious why Dr. Stone suddenly surprised them. “How did you know we were down there?”

“Actually, I didn’t know until I saw the door was open, and didn’t know it was you two until I found you,” he chuckled at himself before continuing. “I couldn’t sleep, too busy thinking about the door, and then I had an idea so I was going to go try it out. Did the code have to do with Yahweh?”

She looked at him wide-eyed, silently thanking Ezekiel for their ability to research so quickly. “Uh, actually, yes. They guarded the door with ‘Do not let God enter.’’

Dr. Stone looked confused, gears going in his head with that information. He then looked at the watch on his wrist, pushing a button that made the display glow for a few seconds. “Well there’s still four hours till sunrise, and I don’t intend on doing a dungeon crawl on no sleep. I suggest you mimic your friend there and get some rest too. Don’t want you goin’ down on a trap like you about did tonight.” He sat down on the ground at the foot of the cot, leaning against the frame and the blanket that had been bunched up from putting Ezekiel down. The folding chair wasn’t going to be comfortable, but Cassandra had been in worse situations than this. A poor night’s sleep was a worthy sacrifice for whatever was in that tomb.

---

Ch 3 post notes

Some good old Librarians puzzle action for ya’ll. On the puzzles, I don’t really know what is time-appropriate as I just wrote without consulting google on it, but I think it doesn’t feel too advanced or anything.

Writing that last scene was kind of weird because I had to get Stone to not freak out so much that he’d automatically turn them in, but not seem so lax with them like they were the librarians together. Not an easy balance, but I think I managed.

One more chapter left guys, which I need to finish tonight. Tuesday is my busiest day so I will try to upload it sometime, but it may happen Wednesday.

#Cassandra and Ezekiel are mercenaries/land pirates #You Sultry Land Pirates Ruined My Dig!#cassandra cillain #ezekiel jones #jacob stone #jake stone #land pirate au #stone's an archaeologist #the librarians fic #flynn writes

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adapted-batteries · 8 years

Text

You Sultry Land Pirates Ruined My Dig! Chapter 4

Fandom: The Librarians

Rating: General Audiences/sfw

Ships: a little bit Jazekiel, little bit Jassandra, and some Cassekiel in a bit

Inspired by the lovely story line (and outfits) in episode 3x09 “And the Fatal Separation” where Cassandra and Ezekiel smuggle Stone, Baird, and Flynn in while they pose as land pirates.

Posted on my Ao3 here.

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3

---

Eventually Cassandra fell asleep, or dozed, but someone shook her awake. She blinked several times, clearing her vision, revealing Dr. Stone standing above her. He didn’t look all that rested.

“Get up. You’ve got a job to do,” he growled, angry and menacing again. “Tend to your friend or colleague or whatever he is, tell him what’s goin’ on and all that so we can get to work.”

“Can I have something to eat? Drink?” she asked, testing just how fired up Dr. Stone was.

He huffed, frustrated, but rummaged around in a duffle bag next to the bed and pulled out protein bars, tossing two on her lap. “Your friend should have one, something in his stomach will keep him clear headed. Water’s in the thermos next to you, don’t drink it all otherwise your friend won’t have any,” he said, pointing to the metal container sitting on the table behind her. She could reach it, though it took effort to get her bound wrists to reach the thermos. Thankfully it was full, so she drank around a third, leaving the rest for Ezekiel.

Dr. Stone shifted on his feet, not sure what he should be doing. “I’ll be outside. No funny business, ‘cuz I’ll know,” he stated, leaving the tent.

With him gone, Cassandra scarfed down one of the protein bars before getting up to wake Ezekiel. Upon standing, she found her legs wanted to protest sleeping in the chair while tied up, but she forced them to move the few feet to the cot. She kneeled down, jostling him softly. “Ezekiel...Ezekiel...wake up,” she whispered, not wanting to startle him awake. He made a noise, a mix between a moan and a whimper, but didn’t open his eyes. “Ezekiel,” she called with more volume this time. “Come on, wake up. Please.” On the “please” his eyes fluttered, unfocused for a few moments before looking at her.

“What’s wrong,” he mumbled, trying to stretch but finding himself bound. “What the-” suddenly more awake, he strained against the rope before his face contorted in pain. “Agh! W...what happened?”

“He knocked you out...and took your rope. Here,” she said, standing up to get the thermos from the makeshift desk, “drink, you need it. And you should eat too, he gave us protein bars.”

“Why did he do that?” Ezekiel asked, voice weaker than it was before. Even in pain, Ezekiel had already halfway worked his way out of his binds.

“Because we’re gonna help him find whatever it is in that thing,” she responded. Before he could react and cause himself more pain, she leaned closed to him to whisper. “Of course we won’t be when it’s all over, I intend to get paid.” He laughed at that. “You even protested unconsciously to letting anything we find go into a museum.”

“And I was right to,” he chuckled, a bit stronger now that he had drank some water.

Cassandra glanced to the entrance to the tent when she heard voices, not sure who was talking. “Here, eat this,” she said, handing him the protein bar, “he’ll probably be back soon.”

He looked at the label, face scrunching at the flavor. “Just peanut butter? No chocolate chips? How could someone eat that?” he scoffed, opening the package anyway. “You didn’t bring any snacks this time?”

“I didn’t plan on spending the whole night in that tomb, or getting captured,” she retorted. “And it’s been months since I actually needed to bring food with me on jobs.” Thankfully he didn’t respond with a mouth full, just shrugging in agreement. With Ezekiel taken care of, Cassandra set about undoing her binds like he taught her.

The tent flap suddenly opened, letting bright sunlight pour in around the shadow of Dr. Stone. He blinked his eyes several times to adjust to the darker tent. “Alright, I’m gonna untie you so no one gets suspicious-” he noticed Ezekiel was sitting up on the cot, rope in a pile on the ground, and Cassandra mostly out of hers. “Ok, yeah, probably should’ve guessed you could get out of rope. Never mind.”

“Never tie up a thief, it’s useless,” Ezekiel teased. Dr. Stone looked like he was about to strangle him, so Ezekiel looked anywhere but at him and shrunk back a bit, attempting to be passive.

“Ok,” Dr. Stone breathed, trying to calm himself. “Let’s go.”

The site hummed with activity just as it had the day before, the excavation proceeding as planned, like nothing happened six hours ago. No one seemed to pay any mind to the trio as the walked to the still opened door.

He stayed behind them like a bodyguard, keeping himself between the two and the exit. It was quiet; no one spoke. Only the pats of their boots against the dust and sand echoed down the sloping floor. The gap in the second door was still there too, still the same width he had pushed it open to fit himself and Ezekiel through.

Barely any light from the surface reached down into the tile room; everyone had their flashlights out, flicking over the sixty or so puzzle pieces on the floor.

“I remember where I got so far, it was left and left,” Ezekiel stated, standing on each tile with a foot, back against the wall. “Where were you thinking next?”

“I wasn't sure, because I was trying to figure out what the hieroglyph meant, then you showed up,” Cassandra started, looking behind her to see what Dr. Stone thought.

He aimed his flashlight at the tile, studying it. “Hmmm, I’ve seen something similar in Sumerian pictographs. It’s a little different, but the other symbol meant a canal had overflowed. It’d be found with reports of damage or losses.”

“I got it!” Cassandra exclaimed. “Try the right one, and then the middle. It spells out YHWH.”

Ezekiel did as instructed, remaining thankfully not filled with spears.

“It’s something about the Flood, ya know, from the Bible. The symbol isn’t the same as a standard clogged canal, it’s more...urgent,” Stone added, piecing it together. “Do the right one, the one with that pictograph,” he called to Ezekiel. The rock about bounced onto the next tile, but the sinking of the pictograph tile kept it still. “Ok, you know the order, start following him, and I’ll follow you,” he told Cassandra. She nodded, catching up to a tile behind Ezekiel.

“Ok, I think I know the statement. I’m gonna list them off to you Ezekiel,” Cassandra said, swiping at the air again. “Ok, next should be the middle, then the middle again, and then left-”

“One at a time please, I don’t have as photographic a memory as you,” Ezekiel called behind him, tossing the rock into the next middle tile. It sunk, and triggered nothing again.

“Sorry. Ok middle again….now left...then middle…” Cassandra rattled off the directions.

They were all jumpy on adrenaline by the time they got to the other side. And they also found what smelled so bad. There was a body, well bones and decayed matter anyway. It looked human, with some fractured bones and a spear wedged in between the rib cage and collar bone. “Guess they thought they could outrun it,” Ezekiel commented, kicking at a leg bone with his boot.

“What’s up with this theme? First they don’t want God in here, now they say ‘God causes the flood as requested’?” Stone said, confused. The long dead body on the ground didn’t intrigue him.

“Who knows what these people mean. I’m just concerned with what’s at the end of all of this,” Ezekiel responded, already checking the next door for traps.

“But what could they be hiding? And why are they obsessed with a god that didn’t exist for several thousand years?” Cassandra asked, sort of aimed at the walking history book behind her.

“There’s always a chance whatever inspired this didn’t make it in the Bible or Torah. Things get lost...or purposely left out,” he answered. “Maybe that’s what they’re hidin’, a controversial manuscript.” By now Ezekiel had shoved the stone slab out of the way enough to let them all slip through, and went in himself. Dr. Stone still made it a point to be the last one into the room, motioning for Cassandra to go next.

The next room had yet another puzzle, it's solution less obvious. There was a fifteen foot wide pit that stretched from wall to wall. At the bottom, some fifty feet down, jagged rocks littered the floor. Ezekiel and Cassandra stood at the edge, his arm outstretched to keep her from tumbling down.

“They're really goin’ for theatrics on this,” Dr. Stone mused when he looked over the edge. “How are we supposed to get across?” He flicked his flashlight over the walls and ceiling. “No ledges, and the ceiling is smooth. Did they expect us to carry a plank down here?”

“No,” Cassandra responded, concentration on her face. “Each of the puzzles so far required knowing the language to beat them. This one must as well.”

“How? It can't be voice-activated, and I don't see any symbols,” Ezekiel said, his flashlight dancing around the room for some clue.

“It has to...look for something on a brick, maybe there's a secret button somewhere,” Cassandra suggested. Dr. Stone looked skeptical, but turned around to scour the walls around the door. Ezekiel searched the left wall, and Cassandra searched the right.

Ten minutes later Ezekiel found something. “Cass, over here! I think I found something,” he called. Both she and Dr. Stone came over to investigate. “I thought it may have just been a nick in the stone, but I didn't see it anywhere else.”

“That's ‘cuz it's the Sumerian pictograph for power...sort of. None of the hieroglyphs actually match, but it probably means somethin’ similar,” Dr. Stone explained. He then looked to Cassandra, confused. “Cass? I thought your name was Amy.”

She looked at him like he was extra slow. “You of all people would understand why we'd use stage names in place of our real ones.”

Dr. Stone opened his mouth, about to say something, then closed it. “Ok, so you're Cass-”

“Cassandra,” she corrected.

“Cassandra, alright, then what's your real name?” he asked Ezekiel.

Ezekiel looked to Cassandra, who shrugged at him. He then looked back to Dr. Stone. “Ezekiel.”

“Look at that, we're actually being truthful for once,” Dr. Stone sneered.

“What's your problem? We're helping you!” Ezekiel exclaimed, lightly shoving him in the chest.

Dr. Stone didn't stagger. “What's my problem? You two! Attempting to steal on my excavation! Why shouldn't I be pissed off?”

“Um, guys,” Cassandra tried to butt in, but neither one would listen.

“You could've just turned us in if that's how you felt about it!” Ezekiel retorted. Jake grabbed him by the shirt collar and shoved him against the wall.

“Guys!” Cassandra snapped. They both turned to look at her, but Dr. Stone didn't release him. “There's no point in arguing. The quicker we get through this the quicker we can go our separate ways and never see each other again. Just cooperate for now.”

Dr. Stone growled at him, but released his grip. Ezekiel opened his mouth, about to make a quip, but Cassandra death glared.

Focusing back to the task ahead, Ezekiel looked at the brick for a few moments, felt the surface, then pushed it several inches into the wall. Somewhere behind the wall, stone scraped against stone, and a small platform extended from the left wall. It wasn't very wide, not even a foot, but enough they could use it to cross. “Cool,” Ezekiel said, turning towards the platform.

“We should probably go one at a time, just to be safe,” Dr. Stone cautioned, looking at the slab warily. They both nodded in agreement. He let them go first, pulling up the rear again. “I hope there's no more traps after this,” he huffed as soon as he made it to the other side.

“Why, aren't you having fun?” Ezekiel mocked, going back to door-checking duty.

“Unlike you two crazy people, I don't want to spend all day doing 5,000 year old traps under the ruins I'm supposed to be topside studying,” Dr. Stone snapped.

“Boys!” Cassandra commanded, getting their attention. She had her flashlight aimed through the gap Ezekiel was in the process of making. “There's not a room there.”

Once he finished pushing the stone slab aside, he stuck his head and flashlight through, looking left then right before leaning back into the pit room. “That's ‘cos it's a hallway. It goes right, to another door,” Ezekiel responded before going through.

“More doors, great,” Dr. Stone sighed, already pushing Cassandra forward by the small of her back. It made her jump rather than slide through the gap.

The hallway wasn’t very long. It extended about twenty feet from the door they just came through to the next. Ezekiel went first, checking for any trigger mechanisms on all surfaces, but thankfully there weren't any. He did, however, look at the stone slab covering the door with despair. “Can someone else open it this time?”

“Gettin’ tired, Ezekiel?” Dr. Stone toyed. Cassandra sighed extra heavily, letting them know how much their petty arguing was disappointing her. Even with the jab, he still opened the door, with rather less effort than Ezekiel had put into it.

This room had only three large levers mounted in the sandstone brick floor. The yard long rods of the levers were made of wood but looked like it had been dipped in a resin, creating a dust-covered sheen. Yet another door was on the far wall, but unlike the others which sat on tracks against the wall, this door was set into the stone; there was no way to push this door to the side.

“Ominous,” Ezekiel commented as he surveyed the room. There wasn’t much to see, besides the three levers. “No traps, no secrets, just the levers, that I can tell.” He walked up to the levers, looking over each one for anything he could find. “The levers have symbols on them, not like any of the ones we’ve seen so far.”

“Three levers...it couldn’t be a reference to the holy trinity since this is waaay before that. Are there any other significant things about three?” she asked Dr. Stone.

“Three in biblical literature could mean anything, even from the old testament. There’s Noah’s sons, contents of the Ark of the Covenant, the three main feasts, and there’s loads of time segments and measurements too,” Dr. Stone said, frustrated. “If it wasn’t seven somethin’ in the Bible, then it was three.”

“Ok but what about other things? This whole tomb thing has been a mix of Hebrew and Sumerian,” Ezekiel asked.

“Um, well there were three underworld deities, but Sumerian religion didn’t really come about until 2500 B.C. which is 700 years ahead of this,” Stone replied. “I think we can reach forward in time for possible solutions based on the phrases we already had.”

Cassandra ran all Dr. Stone had said through her head, catching him saying something about Noah’s three sons. “Wait, what do you know about Noah? The last room talked about the flood, it’s gotta be related.”

“Hold on,” Stone started, something else clicking for him. “The code on the door, it said “do not let God enter?” right? Well these symbols don’t quite match up to ancient Sumerian, little discrepancies. But this whole thing could be a narrative.” He looked to both of the land pirates, neither of whom got where he was going with this. “What if the phrases were past tense? And the first one, not a command, but a statement.”

Cassandra got where he was going now. “You didn’t let God enter, and God caused the flood as requested...ok, makes sense, but what does it mean?”

“Do the levers represent the sons?” Ezekiel offered, not really sure where this train of thought was going that would make the levers make sense. “There are symbols on them, do you recognize them?”

Remembering the symbols on the levers, Stone strode over to them, staring intently. “Yeah, these are ancient Hebrew, a little newer than the symbols before....and unless I’ve gotten rusty on my Hebrew, they correspond to the first letters of the names of Noah’s three sons.” He pointed to each lever as he said the names. “Shem, Ham, and Japheth.”

“That’s something. So we know they’re names, but what about his sons would make sense for a choice?” Cassandra thought out loud.

“The only thing I can think of is Ham’s sin against Noah. Basically, he caught his father passed out drunk off wine and joked about it. Back then that was some serious insulting, and Noah said that Ham’s descendents would be slave to his older brother’s, Shem.” Dr. Stone looked to the levers again before shaking his head. “That still doesn’t give us anythin’ to make a choice off of.”

“Ok, to me the phrases sound almost self-righteous, like they knew what was coming. Who of the sons was the favorite?” Ezekiel said. He was pacing a bit in front of the levers.

“That would’ve been Shem, the one the whole Hebrew lineage, including Jesus, came from,” Dr. Stone said. “Part of his descendants also settled here too,” he added as an afterthought.

“Well I don’t know about you two, but I think this Shem bloke is our answer,” Ezekiel decided, walking over to the left lever. Dr. Stone looked to Cassandra in mild panic.

“Ezekiel, maybe we should keep thinking,” Cassandra suggested.

“If we keep thinking, we’ll be here all day. I think it’s worth a shot. Plus, it’s a thirty percent chance,” Ezekiel countered.

Dr. Stone still wanted to reason out a good choice. “It’s possible some followers of Shem could’ve made this, in some weird obsession. Then the weird mix of letters and pictographs would make sense, and the timeline,” he concluded. “Ya know what, why not. I don’t really know what else would help make a case for the other two sons anyway.”

At Dr. Stone’s approval, Ezekiel pulled the lever. It didn’t budge at first, but once Ezekiel threw his weight into it, the lever slipped back towards him, making him stumble back. Rock rumbled ominously, vibrating the ground. For a moment it seemed like they pulled the wrong one, but the rumbling shifted from under the floor to the far wall. The door slowly sunk into the floor.

Something in the dark room beyond shimmered. The trio entered, finding a circular room with a sole pedestal in the center. A large leather bound book lay on top of the pedestal; it was the source of the shimmering.

“Shiny book, that’s a new one,” Cassandra said as she stepped closer to the book.

“No wonder they offered so much for it,” Ezekiel added, in awe of the artifact in front of him.

Dr. Stone roughly pushed through the two land pirates to get his own glimpse, and keep them from the book. “I’m not sure what language this book is in, I’ve never seen anythin’ like it.” He reached forward, gingerly touching the cover before opening it. The same script on the cover filled the pages, along with some drawings every so often as he turned the pages cautiously. Some words shimmered like the outside did, like they had glitter infused into the ink except it emitted light, not reflected it.

While the archaeologist poured over the foreign script, Cassandra and Ezekiel had an eye conversation behind him. Cassandra looked pointedly at Dr. Stone, before winking extra obviously. Then she glanced at the book, mouthed “me,” and then nodded back to the door. He nodded to her, indicating he understood. It was a crude plan, but it could work if Cassandra could get out quick enough. Ezekiel waited until Dr. Stone closed the book before he attacked.

“This needs to be analyzed in a museu-” Dr. Stone started.

Ezekiel cut him off. “We did it! We found it!” He exclaimed, a little overacting, then gave Dr. Stone a thorough kiss. The suddenness of it all was enough to stun him for a few seconds, giving Cassandra enough time to slip past them, grab the book, and make a break for the entrance.

And it would’ve worked, if there wasn’t someone standing in the doorway.

“I don’t think you wanna run off with that,” the mystery man said. His voice startled the boys out of their fun, and Dr. Stone realized what just about happened.

“You TRAITOR!” he bellowed at her, and shoved Ezekiel away with enough force to send him down to the floor. “Who are you?!” he demanded to the stranger.

The man, who had been standing in the shadows, stepped into the room. Cassandra thought he looked like someone who belonged at Dr. Stone’s dig; an academic with an interesting sense of dress. “Me? Oh, I’m the Librarian, and well, I’m here for the book,” he said, cool as a cucumber. “The question is, what are you all doing here?”

“It’s my dig!” Dr. Stone exclaimed, getting really worked up.

“Oh, you’re Dr. Jacob Stone. Love your work, I’ve read it all,” the Librarian responded, not at all phased by his anger. “And I think you of all people would want that book in a museum...or a library.” The Librarian made a step towards Cassandra, who backed up into Dr. Stone. He grabbed her by the arms, restraining her. “Strong words and arms, nice,” the Librarian commented, taking the book from Cassandra. She would’ve held onto it harder, but the age of the book made her let it go, as she’d rather not be the one to rip it.

“No! That’s ours, we need it!” Ezekiel suddenly shouted, running towards the Librarian.

“Oh, you don’t want to do that now,” the Librarian said. Something about his voice sounded different, Cassandra couldn’t put her finger on it, but Ezekiel stopped in his tracks. “I have to applaud your skills,” he addressed the three staring at him, “this safe wasn’t easily cracked, and for good reason. Now, if you don’t mind, I should be on my way. Don’t want the lost book of Serhem in the wrong hands.”

“What library are you with? I definitely wanna follow up on this book,” Dr. Stone asked.

“I’m, uh, with the Metropolitan Public Library,” the Librarian answered, backing up towards the door. “Great place, you should visit some time. Loads of books and things.” When he got to the door, he turned slightly, addressing the group again. “Seeing as you were in the middle of something when I arrived, I should get going, back to the library.” With that, the Librarian sprinted into the shadows.

Ezekiel tumbled forward a moment later, like the halted momentum got released. “How did he do that? He stopped me in my tracks, I couldn't move!”

“I don't know, but I think we shouldn't let him get away,” she responded, looking from Ezekiel to Dr. Jones. The archaeologist had moved to the door, but turned around to them.

“Come on! He can't be too far,” Dr. Stone said, beckoning them to follow as he leaped into the darkness. That was all the duo needed to run after him.

However, the mysterious man was not in the pit room, nor in the tile puzzle room. “There's no way he could've done this faster than us,” Ezekiel huffed, following Cassandra's footsteps as she led them backwards through the phrase.

The trio burst through the door into the excavation, squinting at the drastic increase in light. “There's too many footprints here,” Dr. Stone said, taking advantage of looking away from the sun. “He's gone up the ramp!” He sprinted up to the main level, but the fresh footsteps ended at a smear. Looking to his right, Dr. Stone saw the source of the smear; some workers were dragging their shovels through the loose sand.

Ezekiel and Cassandra caught up to Dr. Stone as he stomped his foot in the dirt in frustration. “Where'd he go?” Ezekiel asked, looking around the ruins.

“He's gone,” Dr. Stone huffed. “All thanks to you two.”

“Us? Mate, he was gonna come today anyway whether we were here or not,” Ezekiel snapped.

“I...ugh, just go. Get out, and don't come back,” Dr. Stone rumbled.

When Ezekiel didn't move, Cassandra grabbed him by the arm and tugged him away. “Let's go, before we make any other mess,” she said under her breath to him. A part of her felt sad for Dr. Stone, the small part that sympathized with those they used to get what they needed. There wasn't anything she could do, so it was best to leave.

And they did, all the way back to their apartment in Paris. The buyer was none too happy with their report of what happened, but he knew of this Librarian. Cassandra and Ezekiel didn't want to disappoint this buyer; he had offered them more than their last three jobs combined.

“Yes, I know of this Flynn Carsen. He's a menace I've had problems with before,” the older gentleman sighed, taking a sip of his coffee. He wore a well-fitted suit, making him look made of money. His white hair had mostly faded, leaving the top of his head somewhat bald, but his sharp eyebrow ridges and nose, and the fire in his eyes made him an intimidating man. “I would be wary of him in the future. There's a good chance you may cross paths again.”

“Again?” Ezekiel asked.

“Well there's plenty more I'm looking for, and despite losing this, I think you have a good chance of acquiring some other items for me. Mr. Carson can't be two places at once,” the man replied coolly. “If I am satisfied with your performance, there may be some extra...reward, you could say.”

“Uh, yeah, we'll try some more!” Ezekiel said, grin on his face.

Cassandra didn't normally describe people's smiles as “evil,” but this man definitely had one at Ezekiel’s response. “Good,” the man responded, before giving them their next objective.

“Do you think it's a good idea to keep working for him?” Cassandra asked as they walked back to their apartment that evening. “That guy gives me the creeps.”

“You've said that about half the people we've dealt with,” Ezekiel said.

“I know...it's just that he felt extra creepy,” she added. “I'm probably just tired.”

“Probably,” Ezekiel replied, opening the door. “Hey,” he started, bending down to get two envelopes that laid on the floor just inside the door, “we don't get mail, what's this?”

“What does it say on it?” Cassandra asked, looking over his shoulder.

“They're addressed to us...from the Metropolitan Public Library. Hey, that's where that Librarian bloke said he was from,” Ezekiel said, giving Cassandra the letter with her name on it. He opened his, pulling out a high quality, but blank, invitation with red looping borders. One he fully freed it from the envelope, calligraphy-style writing appeared like it was being burned onto the paper. “Woah, ‘you have been selected to interview for a prestigious position with the Metropolitan Public Library.’ What a flashy way of saying it.��

“Did your letter, um, appear on your paper?” Cassandra asked, stunned by the magical lettering.

“What would a library want with us? I don't wanna be stuck inside shelving books all day,” Ezekiel said. Realizing they were both still standing in the doorway, he pulled her gently by the arm and shut their door.

“I don't know, but that librarian we met certainly wasn't a normal librarian,” Cassandra added, walking further into the apartment. They didn't have a whole lot, as they weren't home much, but Cassandra made sure to make it feel homey and comfortable when they were here. As such, she sat down on their super fluffy couch, studying her letter.

“Do you really wanna tie yourself down with a job?” he asked from the kitchen where he was currently rifling through the fridge for who knows what.

“If we're doing what the Librarian was doing, it wouldn't be much different than our current...occupation,” Cassandra answered.

Ezekiel peaked around the refrigerator door, in the process of pulling something out. “I guess, but I still don't know if we should trust that guy, I mean he literally stopped me, with words. That's not normal.”

“But we've already seen ‘not normal’ things before this,” Cassandra countered.

“And Dulaque doesn't like him either,” Ezekiel continued, freeing the leftover pizza he wanted.

“You really trust Dulaque’s opinion on this? He literally just sent us to get a magical missing book of the Bible, and he wants us to get more things like this. He's not normal,” Cassandra said, looking at Ezekiel with a mixture of concern and confusion.

“I don't know. I don't really trust him, but I'm not all buddy buddy with this idea of dropping everything and going to New York for some mystery job either,” he relented, sticking some pizza in the little red toaster oven on the counter.

“I don't see what we have to lose taking this. Worst case, we come back here and keep doing our thing. Best case, we end up, oh, I don't know, saving the world or something,” Cassandra stated.

“You're always wanting to do good, even in a career where stealing is the main job. Sometimes I don't get you, Cass,” he admitted, intently watching his warming pizza.

“Because this job was all I had,” Cassandra quipped, “and I didn't let it change me.”

“So are you saying I'm bad?” He looked at her not with anger but with curiosity. It wasn't the first time they talked about this, but it had been years since she had brought up this moral dilemma.

“No...well...sort of. I mean you just think about yourself,” she saw him about to say something, so she corrected herself, “about us, I know. But that's it. You just stop there. I don't want to stop here.”

The toaster oven dinged, but he didn't immediately pull out his food. Instead he looked at her with endearment and affection. “You're right. I do just think about us. But if this would make you happy, then I think I can survive.” He then took his food out and sat it on a plate; Cassandra saw him try to sneakily hide the piece he had reheated for her. He liked to do that, do extra for her, sometimes without wanting her to see, but she appreciated it nonetheless.

“I don't want you to feel dragged along, or confined, just for me,” she said, smiling at him when he handed her the second plate. He then plopped down on the couch next to her, sitting his food on the coffee table in front of them.

His expression had shifted to amusement now, with a hint of something else; not sadness per se, but something along those lines. “You know that's how love works, right? It doesn't mean you're 100% happy and comfortable. No one has that. And you've braved years of me and my world, so why couldn't I do something you want?”

It wasn't often Cassandra got him confessing his feelings, talking about love and care, and she'd just done it within a few days of each other. As such, she felt the appropriate response to Ezekiel was to kiss him. That also didn't happen often, which let Ezekiel know she really meant it.

Ezekiel kept his word, and two days later they found themselves standing in front of the Metropolitan Public Library. It was busy, even at four in the afternoon, people bustling bustling in and out. The lady at the front desk directed them to a specific room where they should ask for a “Charlene” when she saw their letters.

They found the lady fussing over some papers and receipts. “Hello, we're looking for Charlene,” Cassandra said to the older (but still strong looking) woman.

“Yes?” the lady asked somewhat impatiently, like they just interrupted a very important task.

“We got these a couple days ago,” Ezekiel said, showing his letter. Cassandra held hers out as well.

At the sight of the letters, Charlene’s eyes went wide. “Oh, that's not normal,” she said, standing up from her desk and motioning for them to follow her. “Something must be going on for the Library to send these. Four in one day, and one to a Guardian, the world may be ending at this rate.” Cassandra and Ezekiel looked at each other with concern at that last part. She walked up to a wall of bookcases, with two what looked like security guards standing in front of them. They didn't even acknowledge her presence as she reached for a specific book, pulling it towards her till it clicked. The wall popped forward an inch, which the security guard on the left the left pushed open for them.

Behind the secret bookcase was an elevator. It seemed normal at first, but the buttons had no labels. It started descending, lights in the side panels going up as the passed each floor, picking up speed after the fourth floor, a lot of speed. “Um how far down are we going?” Cassandra asked, not even keeping up with the speed at which they descended based on the lights.

“To the basement,” Charlene simply said, like it was a normal thing.

“But we already passed the-” Cassandra started, but Charlene cut her off.

“To the real basement,” she clarified. As soon as she said that, the elevator stopped.

At the speed they were going, Cassandra figured they should’ve been goop smushed against the ceiling, but she didn’t even feel so much as a little bump when the lights stopped moving and the doors opened. What they saw shouldn’t be possible, couldn’t be. A huge archive, wide as a commercial jet hanger and as deep as, well, Cassandra couldn’t see the back wall. There had to be thousands of bookshelves, and each one looked full too, along with numerous display cases with things she didn’t think existed until now. “Is that the Ark of the Covenant?”

“Welcome to the Library,” Charlene said, stepping out and starting down the marble steps. “And Yes, it is, so don’t open it. The Library keeps and protects items of magical interest from getting into the wrong hands, and has been for over a millennium.” She led them through a maze-like path around bookcases and displays, eventually down a grey stone corridor for a few moments to a set of windowed double doors.

This room looked much smaller than the part they had just been in; a stair case went up the back of the room with loads of drawers lining the back wall that looked like an old card catalog system. There was a large table with various maps and books and a couple lamps on it as well. Cassandra saw people inside, one of which she recognized because he was facing them. It was the Librarian. Charlene opened the doors, making their entrance seem grander than it should’ve been. A man turned around at the sound, and both Cassandra and Ezekiel froze.

“I should’ve known it’d ask you two,” Dr. Stone mumbled, eyes narrowed at both of them. The Librarian didn’t seem to notice their tension, immediately talking to Charlene.

“More Librarians? What’s going on, Charlene?” he asked, clearly confused as much as all the others were.

“Do I look like I know, Flynn? The Library doesn’t send these out willy nilly, and since you’re still alive it must want to have more than one Librarian,” she responded.

The lady that Flynn had been talking to before they entered spoke. “If they’re anything like you two,” she pointed to Flynn and Dr. Jones, “then I don’t see why more brain power is a bad thing. Makes asset management a bit more complicated, though.” Cassandra didn’t recognize the lady; she looked military, or at least carried herself that way.

“Well he’s not like me,” Dr. Stone sneered at Ezekiel, clearly still pissed at the two.

“Hey, I may not care about your ruins but I know how to crack any security system in the world. I’d like to see you try that one, mate,” Ezekiel quipped.

“A soldier, a historian, a thief...what can you do?” Flynn asked Cassandra.

“I...well, I can do physics in my head, complicated patterns, math, stuff like that,” she answered.

“And a genius,” Flynn added to his list. “Something’s up for the Library to pool these resources together.” Then Flynn looked confused at Cassandra. “Wait, if you can do all of that, why were you going to steal that artifact back in Iraq?”

“Ezekiel and I work together…” she started, not really wanting to admit to their thievery. He processed for a moment, before realizing the duo’s skills did compliment each other, and apparently worked for artifact hunting as he had seen.

“I can’t work with them,” Dr. Stone blurted out, still seething at their arrival.

The military lady, sensing his anger, clapped him on the shoulder, making him jump. “No one’s making you stay, you can walk right out those doors and never come back.”

“Colonel Baird is right, just because you were chosen doesn’t mean you have to accept the job,” Charlene added. “However, the Library must think you three are going to be very important for something soon, regardless your differences.” Dr. Stone pondered her statement, regulating his breathing as he did so.

“It’s not like we didn’t work well together, before we, well, tried to nick the book,” Ezekiel said, trying to be nice to Dr. Stone.

It took a few moments for Dr. Stone to respond. “Just ‘cuz I’m working with you, doesn’t mean I trust either of you,” he said at last.

“Great! Alright team, I think it’s time to assess what the Library wants all of you to do,” Colonel Baird said, getting all their attention. Flynn moved to the cluttered table behind him to start sifting materials. Dr. Stone narrowed his eyes at them for a moment, before turning to Flynn.

“Before I leave, I want you all to know that you need to keep your receipts if you want to be reimbursed, and no extraneous spending,” Charlene said to the group. “Good luck with whatever's coming.” With that, she faced the double doors and left.

After giving the two newcomers a brief rundown on the history of magic and things they needed to know, a book on a stand at the end of the table literally fluttered to life.

“Speaking of magic, the clippings book has got something for us,” Flynn said, walking towards it. They all followed him out of curiosity. “Seven people have gone missing within two months, and freak thunderstorms keep hitting just this town. Sounds like magic to me.” He looked up at everyone, watching their expressions. Colonel Baird looked like she was already planning, Cassandra looked excited, Ezekiel looked curious, and Dr. Stone looked confused. “Who's ready to go to Nebraska?”

---

Ch 4 notes

What a wild end, eh? I had to throw Flynn in as I wanted to do something that would make them all be like “you know what, magic is real, so why not” and them join up as Librarians. Plus if there was something like that, the Library would for sure send Flynn to go get that. I feel like this universe Flynn would use the whole “say the words with magic and it does things” like he revealed in “and the Curse of Cindy” a lot more, idk why though.

I'm not sure why I decided Cassandra and Ezekiel were working for Dulaque, but my brain set this kind of pre-season one so it works.

I know i said earlier I wouldn't have anymore Cassekiel in this, but guess what my brain decided to do at 11:30 at night? That being said, I honestly love writing it. I love their dynamic, or at least the one I've written them in (I'd like to hope I did the characters justice). I decided that I wanted them to be romantically involved, or as much as Cassandra allows as her tumor would probably keep her from investing in long term things like relationships.

So, this story is complete, however I definitely wanna explore both pre-Librarian and post-Librarian dynamics. Most likely that means some Cassandra and Ezekiel adventures, cuz I wanna explore more of their relationship off of what I showed in this. And when I feel confident enough to write post-op Cassandra, I’d like to explore it in this universe too.

#Cassandra and Ezekiel are mercenaries/land pirates #You Sultry Land Pirates Ruined My Dig!#cassandra cillian #ezekiel jones #flynn carson #jacob stone #jake stone #land pirate au #stone's an archaeologist #the librarians fic #flynn writes #casekiel

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adapted-batteries · 8 years

Text

Ok chapter four is taking a bit longer to get done, and i’ve got a loaded day tomorrow, so I’m gonna say Chapter 4 of “You Sultry Land Pirates Ruined My Dig!” will be out Wednesday for sure. It’s gonna be the longest of the four chapters for sure though cuz my brain keeps adding things.

#You Sultry Land Pirates Ruined My Dig!#the librarians fic #update #flynn writes

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adapted-batteries · 8 years

Text

You Sultry Land Pirates Ruined My Dig! Chapter 2

Fandom: The Librarians

Rating: General Audiences/sfw

Ships: a little bit Jazekiel, little bit Jassandra, and some Cassekiel in a bit

Inspired by the lovely story line (and outfits) in episode 3x09 “And the Fatal Separation” where Cassandra and Ezekiel smuggle Stone, Baird, and Flynn in while they pose as land pirates.

Posted on my Ao3 here.

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3 , Chapter 4

---

The desert was not Cassandra’s favorite place they had been so far. It was only 8am but the sun beat down, making her sweat under her thankfully lighter colored “explorer’s outfit.” They used these clothes anytime they needed to blend in with scientists in the field; various colored tan shirts and pants, some sturdy boots and today, a light blue shawl to cover her head almost like a very loose hijab. Ezekiel was similarly dressed, minus the shawl, but he did have a white cloth over his head like many of the workers at the site, to protect his head and neck from the sun, which he held in place with his leather headband.

Dr. Stone, dressed similarly to Ezekiel but without dangling feathers from his headband, saw them approaching. He seemed to be looking at a map on a makeshift table of crates, talking to two workers in their language.

“Miss Adamantine and Mr. Zet, welcome,” he greeted after giving the workers some instructions. He walked towards them, gesturing in the direction of the expansive ruins that lay just north of the camp. “Some of the good artifacts have already been shipped back for analysis, but the ruins themselves are still a wonder.”

“Oh, that’s alright. We still get a personal tour of the ruins,” Ezekiel chirped, getting a smile from Dr. Stone.

“So, a little history of these ruins,” Dr. Stone started as he led them to the entrance. “Around 3,200 B.C. a shift in weather triggered a spread in population for better farmland. Uruk was the main city at the time, it’s about 30 miles east from here, which is most likely where the people came from. Based on the structure of this settlement, they diverted a portion of a larger canal from the Euphrates for water.”

He led them down into one of the finished excavations; a large square plot of earth that had several remnants of buildings. They were mostly stone, a sandy tan color, but there were clumps of dark materials against some of the walls, both inside the building walls and outside them. Dr. Stone pointed to one of the clumps. “Now it was common to use wooden beams to support the walls and ceiling, something we find in Uruk, but these carbon deposits weren’t just in the homes. In this portion in particular, it looks like these people had a garden or courtyard with trees and other plants, not a common thing to find in a drying climate.”

After about thirty minutes of listening to Dr. Stone get excited about the people creating an oasis in the desert and how they did it, they finally arrived at the promising burial chamber. “An expensive courtyard, which was constantly watered by slaves, mansions, and things normally found in the richer houses in Ur and Uruk, makes it seem that this settlement comprised of a few noble families and enough commoners to support them. It made sense that we would eventually find burial chambers, but these people didn’t make burial chambers like underground basements,” Dr. Stone said as they stood in front of the entrance. He had taken them into the remnants of one of the big homes and down the sloping dirt to the oddly placed stone door at the bottom of the excavated pit. “We know where the floor was based on the deposits on the stone bricks up there,” he continued, pointing to a faint line visible around two of the walls. “So this was definitely underground. Basement-like storage pits were common, but never with such a sturdy stone door. Whatever is behind here, they didn’t want people finding. They fortified the earth for it, as you can see, bricking only this wall in and fixing a door to it.”

“Did they normally use doors like this for other tombs?” Cassandra asked, much more interested in this dig than before.

“Some of the large temples had similar doors, but they didn't lock, rather they were placed as heavy covers that sealed the room until a new body went in. This door we can’t get open, but it’s not sealed like the bricks. It seems to have some sort of locking mechanism, based on the characters on the door, almost like an ancient keypad, for lack of a better analogy,” Dr. Stone responded, looking at the door. There were thirty symbols on raised stones, arranged in a five by six grid.

Cassandra stared at the door, absorbing the information to analyze later. “What language are the symbols?” she asked, not recognizing some of the characters.

“From my own research, I've determined it's some offshoot of Archaic Sumerian, but only some symbols look like it. These others,” he pointed to several odd looking shapes, “look more like ancient Hebrew if anything. But that doesn't make timeline sense because Hebrew doesn't exist for another 2,000 years.”

“Interesting,” Cassandra responded, still processing the pattern of the letters. She needed to brush up on her ancient Hebrew to make sense of the symbols.

“What type of lock would they have used to make this door?” Ezekiel asked, doing his part of the problem solving.

“That we know of, they didn't have very complicated trap systems, or if they did, they've decomposed to where we can't study them.” Dr. Stone walked up to the brick wall and tapped it. “We also can't see through this wall either. No sonar, ultrasound, or x-ray will penetrate this brick. But there's nothing unusual about the brick that we can tell.”

“How come you don't just blow a hole through the wall?” Ezekiel suggested. Cassandra rolled her eyes, and Dr. Stone looked like he thought Ezekiel was out of his mind.

“How many archeological digs have you heard of using explosives to excavate, hmm? If we did that, not only would I lose funding for any future projects because I ruined my own dig, but I'd for sure destroy anything inside, and probably collapse the building remnants above it,” Dr. Stone scolded. He then restrained himself, taking a deep breath. “If we were in a different environment, where not everything was basically sand, maybe we could punch through some bricks, but with the weight of sand above and around, plus the precarious stability we already have from excavating, it's a bad idea.”

“Yeah, you're right, I didn't think of that,” Ezekiel backtracked, knowing he needed to stay on Dr. Stone's good side for now, even throwing in a little grin too, trying to sell it. Based off Dr. Stone’s smile back, he presumed he had succeeded.

“Well you've seen the dig now, but we've got the artifacts in a sorting tent back at camp,” he started, moving back towards the dirt ramp. It wasn't a horribly steep incline, but he gave both an unnecessary helping hand up it. “We sent off some really nice pottery a couple days ago. Mostly fragments, but there was one almost completely intact and barely faded. Love it when we find those, it's like a kid on an Easter egg hunt that finds the egg with the $20 bill in it.”

“How long will you be excavating here?” Cassandra asked after they cleared the threshold of the mansion door.

“Oh, we're only about halfway done excavating. We know where all the buildings are now, so we just gotta dig them out a bit, especially after finding that door. It'll probably be a couple weeks or so,” he replied, nodding to some workers on their way back.

The artifact tent looked like all of the others; simple tanish canvas and rope. It was one of the biggest, about the size of a metal shipping container, which made sense when they stepped inside. Two foldable tables stood in the center with a variety of tools and cloths on it. Crates, boxes, and cases of all sizes lined the walls except for a bare spot near the entrance. Based off the markings and impressions in the sand, those were probably the boxes that he sent off a few days ago.

A non-local, easy to tell by the sunburned skin, stood at one of the tables, brushing something. “How's cleaning going, Sydney?” He asked. She looked up from her work, a hint of confusion on her face when she saw Cassandra and Ezekiel.

“Oh, fine enough. I'd rather be out in the dig though,” she sighed.

“You can go back out when you don't look so much like a lobster,” he chuckled to her. “This is Sydney Denton, she's my on site geologist, and currently artifact cleaner,” he clarified to the strangers. “Sydney, this is Miss Adamantine and Mr. Zet...uh-”

“Antiquities dealers,” Cassandra cut in. “We were in town for business and ran into Dr. Stone last night.”

“What a coincidence! Well ya’ll missed the good stuff, but I just put up some nice bowls and a little ceramic figurine,” Sydney said, turning behind her to a partially open crate. She pulled out some fragments, a cracked whole bowl, and the hand-sized figurine, and brought them back to the table. “It’s amazing how many things we found intact like this. Most items this old get crushed or broken.”

The little figurine caught Cassandra’s attention. It was a fairly intricate sculpture; a person held a rectangular tablet in one hand at its side, and its other held a cup. She didn’t know much about Sumerian culture, but the pose had to mean something, and there was an easy way to find out right in front of her. “Does the pose signify anything?”

“Generally a tablet would mean the figure either was a noble or a priest, as they were the only social classes that knew how to read and write,” Dr. Stone answered, gently picking up the figure. “The cup can have a variety of meanings depending on the age of the figure. Problem is, sculptures of this detail don’t show up for another 500 years or more. Yet another reason this settlement is...well...weird.”

Sydney snickered at the last statement before adding her own response. “If a thing is ‘weird’ it’s just not understood fully. Just like magic is science we don’t understand yet.”

“Well, I don’t understand it, so it’s weird,” Ezekiel commented. Cassandra narrowed her eyes at him, but Dr. Stone just chuckled under his breath.

They got to see a few more artifacts before Dr. Stone got called for by some workers. “I’d love to stay and chat, but I do have work to do,” he said, starting to leave the tent. He turned back before he let the canvas flap close. “If you wanna get a drink sometime, before you leave, you know where to find me,” he practically purred to Ezekiel, suddenly sounding like he did the night before.

Instead of getting flustered, Ezekiel ate it up. “I’ll definitely take you up on that.” Now Dr. Stone got flustered, not quite the jaw drop, but enough he couldn’t respond and instead left the tent with a smirk. “We must be getting back to the city, but it was lovely meeting you,” Ezekiel said to Sydney who had gone back to cleaning.

“Best of luck to your excavations!” Cassandra chimed in as they started backing up towards the entrance.

“Thank you, it was lovely having visitors in my jail,” she chuckled. “I guess I’ve learned my lesson for forgetting to reapply sunscreen.”

“That is a lesson you tend to only learn once,” Cassandra added.

“That it is. Have a lovely day!” Sydney said, waving. The two waved back, then left the tent.

They didn’t talk until they were back in their hotel. “Ok, did you see anything in those symbols? A code, pattern, anything?” Ezekiel asked, flopping down on the king-sized bed with his phone in hand.

“I need to know what the symbols translate into before I can think of possible patterns. Dr. Stone was right though, it did look kind of like neo-Hebrew,” Cassandra explained, sitting at the desk to start her research. “Did you see anything? Mechanisms you know?”

“Sort of. He did get right the whole ancient keypad. Each of the buttons moves something on the other side, but there’s a good chance it’s a string of those symbols. Without getting through that wall, I can’t do much,” he confessed. “It’s sort of like that box we found in India a couple years ago, except stone and bigger.”

Cassandra was already typing away. “If I can find the translation, or something remotely close, I can limit down the number of tries we’ll have to take. While I work on that, can you look for things the people of Uruk would find important, names of nobles, events, anything they could make into a password.”

“Sure, ‘cos I’m definitely a historian,” Ezekiel scoffed.

Cassandra turned back to him, intense stare on her face. “We don’t have much time, considering we’re competing against a world-class expert who’s got a few days head start. If you can find me things to start with-”

“I know, I know, brain grape will do the rest,” Ezekiel sighed, already typing away on his phone.

“Hey, this is one of the biggest jobs we’ve had. After this we can go to a beach somewhere for months on that money. If we get to work, we could have whatever’s in that tomb tonight,” she continued.

“Then you better get to work, I can’t do all the research can I,” Ezekiel toyed. Cassandra, used to him doing this, just sighed heavily and turned back to her laptop.

The pros of having a world-class thief in the 21st century meant that Cassandra had access to ALL academic databases and library catalogs, even the ones not in access to most academia. This made research on all the artifacts much easier; a world-class mega library at her fingertips. In four hours, with a break for food as well, Cassandra had figured out what the Hebrew-ish symbols probably were and Ezekiel had compiled everything he could find about Sumeria around 3,200 B.C..

“Ok, time to let the magic happen,” Ezekiel said as he sent her his list.

Cassandra took a deep breath, standing up from her chair. “Alright…” She spread her hands in front of her like she was trying to manipulate a hologram. To Ezekiel, he just saw her moving her hands and eyes, focusing on some spaces before swiping it away or enlarging it, but to Cassandra it was like an interactive whiteboard, letters and numbers and symbols and pictures appearing in her field of vision. “Ok so if there’s 30 letters, and those give an alphabet mostly in Sumerian. It won’t be those long phrases, passcodes are normally 5-15 characters, unless it’s a sentence.” She swiped around and zoomed again. “Hmm, the specific Hebrew line up with holy symbols...Oh! Together they could spell YHWH, but the whole Hebrew faith didn’t exist yet, unless this is something undocumented.”

At this realization, data poured into her field of view, too much at one time. Cassandra became dizzy, unsteady and wavering on her feet. Ezekiel quickly caught her, setting her down on the foot of the bed. “Hey, you alright? We’ve got time, you can take a break if it’s too much,” he soothed, watching her intently almost like a parent making sure their kid was alright.

“I can, I’m fine, ow, ok I’ll take a break,” she strained, holding the left side of her head for a few moments before swiping a finger under her nose. “Hey, no nosebleed this time.”

“That’s good. You know, we don’t have to go on vacation again, we could get that out-” he started, but she lifted a hand to cut him off.

“If I do that there’s a chance I lose everything. If I lose that, I’m no use to you or anyone.”

“You don’t know that,” he countered, defensive. Knowing she didn’t need more stress, he sat down next to her and grabbed her hand. He didn’t look at her, he never did when he said this (which was more often than either would like to admit), and instead studied their intertwined fingers. “I don’t care if you can’t ever do math in your head again, I don’t want you to leave me. You’re more than just some walking computer.”

“I know. It’s just, well, irrational fear. Doesn’t have a good reason to be there but it is.” She sighed, looking out the window. “I’ll think about it. But for now, I’m stuck with my brain grape.” She turned to him, a sad look in her eyes, something he hated seeing. Not wanting to lose his composure in front of her like last time, he looked at the wall in front of them. She leaned her head on his shoulder; they sat in silence for some time before she spoke again. “I don’t want to leave you either. And if doctors can help, then I should do that.”

“You shouldn’t do it for me,” Ezekiel whispered, strained, definitely close to losing it.

“I know. It’s my choice,” she answered, just as softly as him. He didn’t respond with words. Instead he turned his head, kissing the top of hers.

---

Ch 2 post notes

For the most part, all the archeology stuff is accurate (thanks to google and my anthropology class last semester). It’s weird to write stuff like that but it wouldn’t be the Librarians to me if someone wasn’t nerding out about something.

Also writing Cassekiel was fun, in a heart wrenching kind of way. Definitely fueled from Cassandra processing in ep 3x08 for sure. I don’t really know how involved they are in this universe, but they definitely care for each other immensely.

0 notes

adapted-batteries · 7 years

Text

And the Hidden Amulet

Fandom: The Librarians

Rating: General/sfw

Relationship: Jassekiel

Word Count: 7017

The Library sends the LiTs and Guardian off to Colorado, where an ancient cave suddenly revealed itself, complete with markings that make the LiTs nervous. Body swapping doesn’t really help matters either.

Also posted on my Ao3.

This is a continuation in the Land Pirate AU I’ve written in before. While it’s not exactly necessary to read the previous stories, some things will probably make a lot more sense if you have. “You Sultry Land Pirates Ruined My Dig!” is first, and “The LiTs Go Clubbing” is second, which this story follows.

This is the last fic I’ve got for the shipathon. The past two months have been great, and I’m super glad I participated.

-----

It had been two months since the Club 10 incident. Morgan Le Fey went off the radar again, or hid her tracks better than last time at least; Jenkins made it his priority to keep an eye out for anything of her handiwork. For the most part, the clippings book and their ongoing investigation on Dulaque had kept them busy, so when nothing rattled the clippings book and they had no progress on what Dulaque was up to, the LiTs grew somewhat restless.

“Jacob...what are you wearing?” Cassandra asked as Dr. Stone walked into the Annex.

“I figured I should find somethin’ to compare with your edgy wardrobe that didn't scream cowboy,” he replied, fiddling with the taupe scarf around his neck. He’d found a cream long sleeve shirt, some olive green pants, and grey work boots.

“I think it's an improvement,” Ezekiel quipped from his relaxed position, feet up on the desk while he scrolled on his phone. “A Nathan Drake vibe beats hick from Oklahoma any day.” Stone gave Ezekiel a confused look but paid attention to the pair of eyes currently on him.

Cassandra had been looking him over methodically. “You need more...leather. Maybe a splash of color too,” she commented, turning on her heel to make a quick trip to the costume room. Stone looked to Ezekiel, who just shrugged at him.

“Cassandra knows how to pick wardrobe, trust me,” Ezekiel said. He then looked up at Stone, eyes focusing obviously on his pants. “That being said, you look a lot more ‘edgy’ with fitted pants like those. A good looking ass and killer legs are always assets, mate.”

“You just want me for my body, don’t ya,” Stone teased, purposely jutting his hip out as he folded his arms across his chest.

“You know it,” Ezekiel chuckled, waggling his eyebrows.

A minute later Cassandra returned with things in hand. She laid them on the desk Ezekiel had claimed, then started handing items to Stone and giving him instructions. “Push your sleeves up, it highlights your biceps more, makes you look slightly more intimidating. The leather cuffs break up your arm while adding a rogue aspect to you. The shirt by itself is bare, so the leather straps are both practical for holding things and cool looking. The light blue cloth necklace adds a bit of color, and it looks like something you wear for personal reasons, giving your character more depth.”

Stone fiddled with the accessories for a moment. “Better?” he asked no one in particular.

“Definitely,” Ezekiel said with a smirk. “Now you look like our hired muscle.”

“When Colonel Baird isn't around then I technically am,” Stone added.

“Speaking of that, how is your training with her going?” Cassandra asked as she sat on the desk.

“Pretty good. I'm getting to the point where she doesn't kick my ass quite so much,” Stone replied, rolling his shoulders like talking about training made him suddenly sore.

The clippings book shook on its stand, catching all of their attention. The three crowded around the large book on its stand.

“Rock-slide reveals ancient cave, hikers discover hidden cave, mysterious drawings found on new cave walls...they’re all dated for tomorrow. Sounds like we need to check out this cave,” Cassandra said.

Stone studied the newspaper clippings. “These are all from Colorado, but Native Americans didn't make cave paintings, so either someone else did it or they’re-”

Colonel Baird walked in just as Stone got towards the end of his sentence. “Magic? What does the clippings book have for us today?”

Stone looked up at her, startled. “How did you-”

“Ezekiel texted me the highlights, and I was on my way back anyway,” she answered, gesturing with her phone as she came to stand next to Ezekiel to read the clippings. “Looks like we’re going spelunking,” She glanced at Stone, mildly amused, “and Stone here is ready to go.”

“I wasn’t...ugh,” Stone huffed, crossing his arms. He glared at Ezekiel and Cassandra who were both restraining giggles. “Go on and get ready.”

“Be back in five!” Cassandra said, giving Stone a kiss on the cheek.

Ezekiel slipped around Cassandra to do the same. “I think you look pretty sexy,” he not-so-quietly whispered into Stone’s ear, giving him a cheeky pat on the ass for good measure, then offered his arm to Cassandra. The two sauntered off to find some hiking gear.

“Cassandra help with the outfit?” Colonel Baird asked, trying to hide the smirk on her face.

“Uh yeah, I only managed half of this,” he replied, fiddling with the leather cuff on his wrist to hide the blush Ezekiel caused.

“Hey, that’s progress,” she said. She gave him a friendly punch in the arm then started heading out the doors for her own gear. “There should be some backpacks in the supply room for us.”

“I’ll go get ‘em,” Stone said, following after her.

---

Jenkins sent them to a visitor center in the forest. It was fairly crowded, people taking advantage of the last few days of summer before the fall rolled in, but no one paid them any mind as the group stumbled out a side door marked “Authorized Personnel Only.”

“Alright, the cave was on Logan Peak Trail, so we need to find the trail head,” Colonel Baird said once the group regained their footing.

“Got it,” Ezekiel said, casually sliding a map out of an unsuspecting tourist’s back pocket as they walked by.

“Dude, seriously?” Stone scoffed, rolling his eyes at him.

“What? She didn’t say how she wanted the information,” Ezekiel countered, opening up the folded paper.

Cassandra scanned the map for a moment before pointing at a spot. “There’s roughly where the cave is, so the trail itself should be right...here,” she paused, looking up to match the map to the various paths branching from the parking lot. “There, to the north, next to the bus.”

“What’s the rating on that trail?” Colonel Baird asked while she watched people coming and going from every other trail but that one.

Ezekiel flipped the map over to the trail listings. “Um...it’s an expert level, complete with steep inclines, some rock climbing, and the loop itself runs almost twenty miles, and connects to others,” he answered, not looking as thrilled as he had before.

“Based on the satellite images, the cave is somewhere between miles four and five,” Cassandra added, poking Ezekiel to flip the map back over. “We might have to scale a small cliff face about two miles in, but I don’t remember seeing anything else on the way.”

“This is why I had you guys get good hiking boots,” Colonel Baird said, turning towards the trail in a much more excited manner than the rest of the group. “Librarians, let's get our hike on.”

The group met her excitement with various grumbles and mumbled words.

---

Three sweaty hours later, the LiTs and their Guardian saw the freshly revealed cave, set into a steeply sloping rock face that softened as it joined the trail. The mouth was five foot wide at most. Boulders and rocks were scattered about, but none covered the trail itself.

Colonel Baird started up the slope to give the cave a look, but the others staggered over to a flatter boulder to rest. “It slopes down towards the back, but I can’t see anything once it curves,” she stated, flicking a beam of light from a flashlight around the walls of the cave. “We just need to take it slow, be careful...guys?” She turned around, not having to search hard for them.

Cassandra noticed Colonel Baird. “Can we have like, five minutes?” Ezekiel and Stone both looked up at her, guzzling water with pleading eyes.

Colonel Baird sighed, knowing she wasn’t going to get them moving any faster. “Fine. Five minutes, then we go inside.”

Even though they knew she was going to give them precisely five minutes, they still groaned and grumbled up the slope to the cave entrance. The complaints stopped once they went inside, replaced by their footsteps echoing down the tunnel. With the curve, the floor grew more jagged, becoming a set of large, shallow steps that opened to a larger chamber fifteen or so feet across and deep, and twenty feet high.

The walls, where they were smooth enough, had white symbols all over them that eerily reflected their LED flashlights. In the middle of the room was a four foot tall pillar of rock with a rounded top that jutted up from the ground, but otherwise the room was empty.

“Any idea what these symbols are?” Colonel Baird asked the room. The LiTs had gone in, but she stayed at the entrance, keeping an ear out for anyone coming in the cave.

“It’s not Native American. In fact...it looks similar to what those kids had on the floor in the basement of Club 10,” Stone replied, lightly tracing one of the symbols with his fingers.

“Do you think she came here?” Cassandra asked from the other side of the room where she had been looking for anything suspicious with Ezekiel.

“If she did, it would’ve had to 've been a couple centuries ago. That I can tell, the paint is a mix they used in early to mid 19th century America,” Stone said.

“You know that by just touching it?” Ezekiel said, glancing over at Stone dubiously.

“I wasn’t diggin’ in the sand in Iraq ‘cuz I didn’t know my stuff,” he retorted. “And while you guys were gettin’ ready, I checked into any literature related to this park and area, and didn’t find any mention of a cave. The oldest item, a diary, was dated eighteen forty three.”

“Okay, we get it, you’re a history nerd,” Ezekiel mocked, walking over to Stone to check out his wall for anything suspicious. “So secret cave that’s been sealed for at least a hundred and fifty years, with symbols that look a lot like what we saw with Morgan Le Fey, and a weird pillar thing in the middle. Any guesses?”

“Whatever it is, it can’t be good,” Colonel Baird said. “Stone, do you know what these symbols mean?”

“After our run in at Club 10, I read through all the Library had on magic in Europe in that millennium.” He paused when Ezekiel dropped his jaw slightly. “Yes...all. Reading is literally what I do,” he quipped, shaking his head to get back on track. “As far as her specific style, there wasn’t much I could find. She’s good at coverin’ her tracks, but what she was teachin' those kids cropped up a lot in several areas over a few hundred years.” Stone had been flicking his flashlight around the room, but suddenly stopped on a particular symbol. “There, something a lot like it came up a lot in the Celtic stuff. It was a ward, a symbol of protection. What exactly it did depended on who wrote which book, but everyone agreed it was part of a ritual for protection.”

“But not all these symbols go with that ward,” Cassandra started, flicking her hands in the air in front of her. “I remember looking over your shoulder when you had a book open, I’ve seen, well not the symbols specifically, but variants, similar patterns.” After swiping at nothing, her face lit up in recognition, then she swiped the air in her grand gesture of dismissing what she saw and aimed her flashlight at another symbol. “That one, it’s really close to the one I saw for detecting beings in an area, but it’s not the same.”

“Okay so someone was setting up magical security...but for what?” Ezekiel abandoned the wall for the pillar in the middle. “Something could have been here, if someone took it before we got here.”

“No, there weren’t any prints in the dust at the entrance. The rock slide happened recently, and the park rangers haven’t gone in yet, otherwise there would’ve been a notice at the start of the trail,” Colonel Baird explained.

“Then whatever they were protectin’ is still here,” Stone concluded, deciding the pillar needed more of his attention. “These wards, they were some top level stuff. Only a trained practitioner did them. Whoever painted these walls could have easily magically hidden whatever it is.”

Light tapping echoed around the room; Cassandra had pulled out a magical scanner she and Ezekiel had built together, and was waving it at the wall. “Did anything you read say anything about the wards regenerating, or if they decay?”

“That was another point people liked to argue on. Some said they were one use things, some said they regenerated the next day at sunrise, some said that they had to be recharged by a person after use,” Stone replied, eyes still on the pillar.

“Well whatever theory is correct, these wards have no magic in them,” Cassandra announced, pivoting towards Stone and Ezekiel. “The only reading I get is from the pillar, and it’s strong, like artifact level strong.”

Ezekiel had been feeling the base of the pillar for a trigger mechanism, so Stone touched the top, which shifted with his push, suddenly tumbling to the ground on the other side. The inside of the pillar had been hollowed out about six inches deep, housing a small, ornate wooden box. “I think I found what was givin’ off readings,” Stone said, gingerly lifting the rectangular box out of the hole. “This, the style, it’s old. Traditional carvings from thirteenth century France.”

“Cool box...so what’s inside?” Ezekiel said, standing up next to him.

Stone had to restrain himself from yelling about how rare a find like this was. Instead he focused his energy into carefully opening the box. A gold amulet about half the size of his palm sat inside, the red gemstone set in the middle reflecting light off its multifaceted surface. He pulled the necklace out carefully, intently studying it.

Ezekiel looked like he hadn’t been expecting jewelry. “Fancy looking necklace...okay. When’s it from?”

After some sniffing, and a lick, Stone replied, “It’s as old as the box, if not older. I’d put it at…”

Something felt weird. He looked up; the room was off slightly, something changed. He still had the amulet in his hand, but now the gem was green, and he was on the other side of the pillar, alone. He shook his head and continued his statement.

“Uh, yeah, I’d put it at late twelfth, early thirteenth century, the gold from the mines of the Mali empire probably.” Stone ran a hand through his hair. His wrist felt bare, and when he brought his arm down he noticed the leather cuffs Cassandra had given him were gone. In fact, his whole outfit looked more like his normal clothes, not the outfit he’d been working on before they left.

“What, suddenly self-conscious mate?” Ezekiel quipped, drawing Stone’s attention to him. Stone could’ve sworn Ezekiel had a light grey shirt, but now it was much darker, a navy, too much to be a trick of light.

Stone shook his head, deciding to play off his confusion. “Nah, I already know you want a piece of this,” Stone said, waggling his eyebrows.

“Uh…” Ezekiel looked really caught off guard, and Stone wasn’t sure why. They did this flirting thing all the time. He glanced to Cassandra, who was also giving him a funny look, in a light green shirt, not the blue she had been wearing.

The amulet, it must have changed something, his perception maybe, or it transported him somehow, to somewhere. Maybe they’d understand him…

Stone’s voice faltered mid sentence. He looked around, not quite sure where he was. Ezekiel was suddenly next to him, and he’d somehow gotten on the other side of the pillar without noticing. He still had the amulet in his hand, but it was red, not the green he remembered seeing just a moment ago.

“Um...uh,” Stone lost his words, his train of thought completely derailed.

“It’s alright if you don’t know the time period, we can look it up when we get back,” Cassandra said, walking up and putting a reassuring hand on his arm.

“No, I know, it’s gotta be early thirteenth century, gold from Mali most likely,” Stone confirmed, shaking his head. He glanced to his wrists; when did he put on those bracelets? Wait, his whole outfit was not what he walked into the cave wearing.

“Are you alright?” she asked, looking at him with concern.

“Uh...I don’t...um, didn’t you have a green shirt?” Stone stammered, eyes flicking around to Ezekiel. “And you had a navy shirt, for sure.”

“Nope, I definitely walked into the Library this morning wearing this shirt,” Ezekiel said, looking at him with concern as well. “You sure you’re feeling okay?”

“I think so,” Stone mumbled.

Ezekiel offered his hand to Stone. “Here, let me have a look at the amulet.” Once the amulet touched Ezekiel’s hand, Stone shuddered. It was slight, but Ezekiel caught it.

“Now why would Morgan Le Fey, or someone she worked with or trained, hide this here?” Ezekiel thought aloud, looking at the red amulet in his hand, hoping to move past whatever had just happened to Stone...

Ezekiel had been watching Stone ever since he picked up the amulet. Stuttering while doing his history nerd thing, that wasn’t normal at all. Neither was forgetting what clothes they had been wearing all day, and looking around the room like he didn’t know how he got there. Except now he felt the same way. That amulet had definitely been red just a moment ago, there was no way he could have confused that with the green it was now.

Everyone was looking at him expectantly, but why he didn’t know, since he just asked them a question. Maybe he hadn’t actually said it out loud? Guess it wouldn’t hurt to repeat himself. “Uh, so why would they need to hide this amulet?”

Apparently they hadn’t been expecting him to ask that. Cassandra raised an eyebrow at him. “Well, it must be valuable, whether monetarily or magically,” she suggested. “We just don’t know what it does, yet anyway.”

Ezekiel glanced back at the amulet. “With the wards, it’d have to be magical. Maybe whatever it does is controlled by a command.”

“That’s an idea, though what would activate it we have no clue,” Cassandra started, eyes focused on the amulet for a moment before she turned to look at the box, sitting unattended on the pillar top. “Stone, is there anything on the box that might help us?”

Stone grabbed the box, holding his flashlight close to it. “I can certainly look.”

Something about Cassandra seemed different, Ezekiel couldn’t quite put a finger on what though. It was like she hadn’t been hardened by years of thievery with him. She reminded him more of what she was like when they first met five years ago; innocent, a bit naive, too trusting for her own good, determined to convince him that she was worth opening up to.

Apparently that meant he was looking at her with a face that revealed he was thinking about how he low key had a crush on her for a while (guess that happens when you start actually trusting someone), complete with biting his lip.

“Are you alright Ezekiel?” Cassandra asked, snapping him back to reality. If there had been more than just flashlights for light, he could confirm his suspicion of her blushing under his gaze...

Stone was being really odd. Flirting with him was not a normal thing at all, nor looking at himself like he forgot what clothes he put on this morning. Ezekiel hadn’t paid a whole lot of attention, but he for sure didn’t remember Stone looking like he belonged in a video game a second ago, and the amulet was not red either.

“Wasn’t the amulet green?” Ezekiel said, looking from the necklace in his hand to Stone’s weird wardrobe change. “And you definitely hadn’t been wearing those pants when we walked in here.”

“What? I’ve been wearing ‘em all day, and ya even said ya liked my ass in ‘em,” Stone retorted, looking at him with concern. Stone put the back of his hand up to Ezekiel’s forehead for a moment, then switched to cupping the side of his face. “Are ya feelin’ alright?”

The sudden tenderness from Stone was too much for Ezekiel. Instinctively he backed away a few feet, eyes wide, not a clue why Stone was being this way like it was normal.

Stone looked at him with even more worry. “What’s wrong?”

“You wouldn’t do that, you don’t…” Ezekiel stammered, not really processing what was going on very well.

“I don’t what?” Stone said, keeping his distance even though Ezekiel could tell he was restraining himself.

“You’re straight!” Ezekiel snapped, not really meaning to be so loud, but his nerves were very on edge.

Stone looked at him, more confused now than anything else. “I dunno what happened to you...don’t you remember kissin’ me this morning?”

Ezekiel’s jaw dropped. What Stone just said made absolutely no sense; he definitely didn’t do that today, that wouldn’t be something he’d forget easily at all. “...what? I didn’t...”

Cassandra knew something was wrong with Jacob and Ezekiel, like they weren’t quite who they should be. Jacob stuttering mid-sentence, saying she had been wearing a green shirt when she definitely wasn’t, could’ve just been some odd memory loss, but Ezekiel suddenly thinking Jacob was straight was the thing that made her realize there was a problem.

“Are you two alright? You’ve both been acting weird...did something happen?” she asked. Stone looked like he was thinking, and Ezekiel responded with confused noises more than words. On a hunch, she took the amulet from Ezekiel’s loose grip, and saw him shudder. “Okay, where were you just now?”

Ezekiel shook his head, looking around the room, before answering. “I was here, but not quite. It was like you didn’t remember us at all, our past, and Stone changed his clothes…”

Ezekiel’s clothes changed, his shirt going from the grey she just saw, to a navy. He’d been mid sentence when she arrived wherever they were. “...and you said I kissed you this morning?”

Stone, definitely not wearing the cream shirt and olive pants anymore, made a noise that was part amused, part disbelief. “You definitely didn’t do anything like that.”

That gave Cassandra the information she needed. “I think I can explain that,” she started, getting both of their attention. “We must be shifting universes, and you guys are a parallel universe to mine. Everything’s mostly the same, but not quite, like the amulet. Where I came from, it had a red gemstone, but yours is green, and my Ezekiel had a grey shirt, but yours is navy…”

Cassandra figured out why Ezekiel was so freaked out about things Stone definitely didn’t do. When she took the amulet from him, she went somewhere, to the place Ezekiel had been describing, confirmed by Stone’s obnoxious looking adventurer's outfit. They’d been swapping universes via the amulet, its red-gemmed counterpart currently in her hands where the green one had been just a moment ago.

“...Ezekiel had said you somehow changed outfit,” she continued, looking at Stone with mild amusement, “which at first didn’t make sense, but I can’t deny what I see in front of me.”

“So have we been teleporting?” Ezekiel asked.

“Not exactly. The amulet must link the consciousness of the person to their counterpart in another universe, but only if both are holding the amulets,” she explained. “Our Ezekiel came back rather freaked out...what happened over here?”

Stone bit his lip before answering her. “I told him that he kissed me this morning, which ours did.”

“Oh...well that I know of our Stone and Ezekiel’s relationship is not that, well at least not yet anyway,” Cassandra replied.

Ezekiel was looking at her again like he had before he presumably returned to this universe. “What about us? Me and you?”

Cassandra couldn’t help the blush that came up from his gaze. “Uh, well personally I don’t feel that way...and I have Estrella now…”

“Who’s Estrella?” Stone asked, giving her a curious look.

Cassandra felt the smile before she even said anything. “My girlfriend. I guess me here hasn’t met her.”

“The name doesn’t ring any bells. Maybe she met her before you...she became a thief with me,” Ezekiel said.

It took a second for Cassandra to process that last bit. “I became a thief?”

Now it was Ezekiel who was smiling wistfully. “Yeah, just over five years ago.”

“Sounds like she had quite a life before the Library. I was just a janitor,” Cassandra started, not quite sure if she wanted to go back to what she had been wanting to ask. A few moments of awkward silence helped push her along. “So, Stone and Ezekiel, and me and Ezekiel…”

Ezekiel snickered faintly before clarifying. “It’s kind of a polyamorous relationship.”

“Kind of?” Cassandra asked, not sure what he meant by that.

“We’ve been busy, not exactly had time to explore anythin’,” Stone added.

“You know, just some unknown impending doom from Morgan Le Fey and Dula-” Ezekiel said nonchalantly, but Cassandra cut him off.

“Wait! Don’t say anything. If we gain information we otherwise wouldn’t have by ourselves, we could end up damaging our own timelines, or create new ones. We already know there are other branches from our reality.” Cassandra paused, motioning to Colonel Baird still standing near the entrance of the cave. “Our Eve traveled through them a couple years ago. I probably should go before I have a chance to say anything else.”

Cassandra was about to put the amulet back in the box, but Stone stopped her. “Hold on. Before ya go, I wanna test somethin’.” He slipped his backpack off and dug around for the scarf he’d taken off before they hiked. “Here, grab the amulet with this. I wanna see of skin contact is what activates it.”

Taking the scarf, Cassandra wrapped the amulet in it, nothing seemingly different. “I’m still here, which tells me it’s using my electromagnetic field, my aura, to connect. It was a good idea though.”

“Would it still connect if it was in the box?” Stone asked.

“No, it shouldn’t. In the top of ours anyway, there is a cancellation ward,” Cassandra explained, holding the box so they could see, “though your symbol looks like what our Stone drew to compare our symbol to.”

“Whoever put the amulet here must have been from your universe,” Ezekiel suggested.

“It could explain why there wasn’t any magic in our wards here,” Stone said.

“Our wards didn’t have any charge either. They symbols might not be compatible with your magic, but they should still cancel the amulet’s effects since it leaks our magic, and vice versa, to connect,” Cassandra theorized. She knew it was nearing time to leave. “I’m sure your Cassandra has put two and two together. It would be best if I return to my universe.” Stone gave her a nod.

“Have a nice...trip?” Ezekiel said, not quite sure what phrase to use.

Cassandra couldn’t help but laugh a bit. “Good luck on your mission,” she said, looking at all of them.

“You too,” Colonel Baird replied.

Cassandra placed the amulet back in the box, closing the lid softly. Her eyes unfocused for a moment, then she looked up at everyone. “Oh good, I’m back. So much unresolved tension.”

Ezekiel snorted. “Apparently not for you though. Do you know an Estrella?”

“No, but apparently she’s my girlfriend over there,” Cassandra replied.

“Alright, We can chat about relationship differences back at the Library. Let’s get heading back,” Colonel Baird said before the conversation could go any farther. After all the sort of teleporting, everyone happily agreed with her.

---

Exhausted and sweaty, the Librarians and their Guardian stepped into the Annex. Jenkins, who they had called minutes before to activate the backdoor, was in the process of organizing the perpetually cluttered main table. “Welcome back,” he greeted. “I assume your mission was successful?”

Colonel Baird slid her backpack off and carefully took out the box. “I’d say so.”

Jenkins stared at the box with a face that was even graver than the when he found out Morgan Le Fey was active two months ago. “You...found it.”

“Yeah...whatever it is,” Ezekiel said, not thrilled with Jenkins’s expression.

Jenkins opened the box, confirmed the amulet was there, then closed it again. “It is one of a pair, the amulets of world switching...sounds more intimidating in Latin. The amulets, if worn by the same person in each universe at a time that lines up, allows the consciousnesses to switch.”

“Yeah, we figured that out…” Cassandra said, glancing to both Stone and Ezekiel.

“So your counterparts were sent to retrieve their amulet too...Morgan must be on the move,” Jenkins added.

Stone looked at Jenkins, confused. “How do ya know it’s her?”

“She was looking for our counterpart, oh, early Renaissance. There was rumor she found it, but nothing came up that I recall. I can check the previous Librarians’ diaries and logs. Perhaps one of them prompted her to hide it for safe keeping,” Jenkins replied.

“But the paint of the cave, it was two centuries old at most,” Stone said.

“It’s plausible that she had it with her until then, or moved it then,” Jenkins suggested.

Ezekiel had been trying to piece it together, but there was still a part he didn’t understand. “The symbols, they weren’t from our universe.”

Jenkins glanced to him, more helpless than exasperated. “I do not know everything, Mr. Jones. Perhaps her counterpart and she were working together.”

“Do you think she caused the rock slide to retrieve it?” Colonel Baird asked.

“Not likely,” Jenkins answered. “If she had, you wouldn’t have found anything.”

“Then why didn’t the Library send us out earlier, before she had a chance to go back?” she further questioned.

“Nothing notable regarding the cave would have come up in the local papers, thus the Library had nothing to send you to. It’s also possible that the rock slide activated the wards, I assume she had them there,” Jenkins paused to get the nods of confirmation before continuing, “and once used, the amulet was no longer hidden from the Library. For now, we can prevent anyone from using the amulet. I’ll go find a place for it.” Taking the box in his hands as if it was going to disintegrate if he gripped too hard, Jenkins strode out of the Annex.

Not more than a second after Jenkins left, the backdoor glowed, and a battered Flynn holding an expensive-looking china teapot under one arm stumbled into the Annex. Colonel Baird immediately went over to him. “Welcome back...rough trip?”

“You could say that,” Flynn panted. “They did not want to give up their magical healing teapot.” He looked around the Annex for a moment. “Where’s Jenkins? Ah, I can take it to his lab. Hopefully he can fix it up, I could use a drink.” After pointing to the side at a thin line in the ceramic, he limped off to the same door Jenkins had went through.

Colonel Baird watched him staggering off. “I’ll brief him on what we found while I patch him up,” she told the LiTs before striding after him.

“Don’t have too much fun,” Ezekiel snickered.

“Speak for yourself,” Colonel Baird replied without looking back. She caught up to Flynn as he stepped through the doorway.

Cassandra, Stone, and Ezekiel awkwardly stood around, no one making any move to leave. If the Library had crickets (that weren’t contained in the bug room), they would perfectly accent the tension in the room.

Stone was the one to break the silence. “Kinda feels like we’re putting off the inevitable.”

Cassandra shrugged. “We have been busy…”

“This whole mess with Morgan and Dulaque, it’s been two months. We don’t know how long it’s gonna take, and we can’t guarantee we all make it through,” Stone continued.

“Way to rain on the parade,” Ezekiel quipped, not enthused with the serious route it was going.

“No,” Cassandra started, glancing from Ezekiel to Stone, “he’s right. What we’re going up against is big, and dangerous.”

Ezekiel folded his arms across his chest. “So what, are we just a thing now?”

“Well we kinda already were,” Stone said.

“We could...make it official, clean up then go get dinner?” Cassandra suggested, looking at the both of them. Stone gave a “sure,” and Ezekiel gave a “yeah,” with no suggestions. “So...what sounds good?”

“...pizza?” Ezekiel suggested after no one said anything. Cassandra and Stone looked at each other in amusement; they expected nothing less from him.

“Pizza it is then,” Cassandra confirmed.

---

An hour later the freshly-showered LiTs arrived at a local pizza joint they frequented. The sun had started to set, and the dinner crowd filled the restaurant.

“But how is the seating arrangement going to work?” Ezekiel said as they walked up to the front door. “A booth means someone gets left out, or all of us have no room whatsoever.”

“We could get a table, one of the square ones with a chair on each side, then it’s more evenly spaced,” Cassandra suggested.

“I guess that will work,” Ezekiel decided, smirk growing on his face. “We can save the cuddling for later.”

Stone looked at him, an eyebrow raised. “Later?” Cassandra was busy talking to the hostess to get them a table, no help to explain what Ezekiel meant.

Ezekiel left him hanging until they were seated at their table. “Yeah, We have a great couch at home, Cassandra likes the super plush ones. And courtesy of me, a nice flat screen and netflix,” Ezekiel finally explained with a menu in hand.

Stone peered at him. “Are you wantin’ to ‘netflix and chill’?”

Cassandra attempted to hold in her laugh, but failed. “What?” she said through giggles as Stone’s gaze zeroed in on her. “I knew he was going to try it.”

Stone huffed, but he playfully kicked at Ezekiel’s feet under the table. Once the pizza was ordered, and later arrived, the table grew silent (besides moans of cheezy satisfaction, mostly from Ezekiel) as the hungry LiTs devoured their food.

---

“What’s this couch made of, clouds?” Stone asked, somewhat seriously as he seated himself in the middle of the plush couch at Cassandra and Ezekiel’s apartment.

“For all I know it is,” Ezekiel said from next to the tv as he fiddled with the dimmer switch on the lights.

“It’s great, isn’t it?” Cassandra said as she plopped down next to Stone after setting some drinks on the little coffee table in front of them.

“I don’t know how you stay awake on this,” Stone replied, stretching his arms across the back of the couch.

“Here, watch this.” Cassandra leaned over Stone, shoving her hand into the gap between seat cushions. Stone figured out what she had been digging around for when his feet suddenly came up with what he had assumed was the non-reclining middle seat of the couch.

“Woah, even better,” Stone said, settling back into his newly reclined position. Cassandra gave him a goofy smile as she pulled her own lever, reclining her seat.

“What do you wanna watch? Action, drama, sci-fi,” Ezekiel offered as he sat down on the other side of Stone with a controller in hand.

“How ‘bout a documentary?” Stone suggested jokingly.

Ezekiel had been settling in, about to make his seat match theirs, but the question made him sit up and stare at Stone in disbelief. “How dare you suggest that in this house,” Ezekiel scoffed, hand on his chest.

Stone decided to push further. “Oh I know some good social ones, or there’s a bunch on all the art periods too. One of my favorites is on the-”

Ezekiel cut him off by putting a finger to Stone’s lips. “One more suggestion of educational television and you won’t be coming back here.”

Cassandra leaned against Stone’s side. “He’s actually serious about that. Ever since we started at the Library, he deemed home a strict relaxation zone,” she whispered, not intending to be quiet. Ezekiel took his finger away, but kept it pointed at Stone.

“Well, after today’s hike, I can’t say no to that,” Stone replied.

Ezekiel kissed Stone, then settled back against his side. “Good answer.”

---

Cassandra ended up picking Back to the Future when Ezekiel scrolled through options, with no complaints from the other two. Stone hadn't been expecting Ezekiel's extensive surround sound setup, but of course shouldn't have expected anything less from him. It reminded Stone of seeing it with friends when it first came out in theaters all those years ago, minus that characteristic theater smell, way too buttery popcorn, and well worn seats of the little theater in his hometown. He definitely preferred the cloud couch and the two ex-land pirates pressed into his sides.

None of them intended to fall asleep mid-movie, but the LiTs were more tired than they realized. Cassandra was using the left side of Stone’s chest as a pillow, his arm draped loosely around her shoulders. Stone had his head back against the couch, mostly kept straight by Ezekiel’s head, whose forehead pressed right above Stone’s ear. Stone’s other arm was smushed between him and Ezekiel, hands still intertwined.

If it weren’t for the loud thunder in the scene where Doc and Marty are preparing to return to 1985, they probably would’ve stayed asleep. Instead, Stone flinched, jostling the other two awake.

“Sorry,” he said around a yawn.

Ezekiel had sat up, looking entirely too cute after waking up. “It’s fine. At least we can watch the end now.”

The tinny thunder cracked again; this time Cassandra jumped a little. “I’ve never liked storms in the older movies, too sharp and crackley.”

“All those movies used the same sound clip, ‘Castle Thunder,’ which was originally recorded for the nineteen thirty one Frankenstein film. When the film industry went digital, they quit usin’ it,” Stone explained, earning a look from both Cassandra and Ezekiel. “What? I took a film course in college for an elective.”

“No, movie nerd is my spot, you get art and history,” Ezekiel said, waggling his finger at Stone for effect.

“Don’t worry, the class was a broad overview, and I took it in the nineties,” Stone replied, ruffling Ezekiel’s already messed up hair. “You can still one up me.”

Ten or so minutes later the end credits rolled. Stone got up with Cassandra, collecting the drinks that didn’t really get consumed like intended while Ezekiel powered down the console.

“The couch may be comfy, but the bed is better for the back,” Cassandra said after they put the drinks back in the fridge.

“Thanks for havin’ me over, guys, it was nice...including the falling asleep,” Stone said, intending to head for the door.

Ezekiel hesitated for a moment before preventing Stone from leaving by kissing him. “You could stay over, if you want,” Ezekiel said once he pulled away.

“Uh, I mean, if it’s not any trouble,” Stone said, mildly dazed from the kiss. “The couch won’t hurt me.”

“Nonsense,” Cassandra said. “The bed will easily fit all of us.” Stone hesitated, glancing from her to Ezekiel and back, which Cassandra took as reluctance. “That is if you want to, or you can stay on the couch if you want, whatever you’re comfortable with.”

“Oh, no, bed’s fine, it’s just, um, well,” Stone stammered, suddenly feeling embarrassed, “it’s just I kinda spent the past two months wonderin’ what it’d be like to...um...not that we have to do that-”

Cassandra cut off his rambling with a kiss of her own. “You are adorable. Not that we haven’t been thinking the same thing, but I think we can all agree that we’re exhausted from today. We can...explore that...some other time.”

“What are you guys, teenagers? You can say ‘sex’ in this house. I’m all about clear communication and consent,” Ezekiel said, clearly too tired to do any awkward skirting around the point. He only barely held back the laugh that tried to free itself when both Cassandra and Stone looked at him with wide eyes and red cheeks. “Oh my god you guys are dorks. Come on, I’ve got some pajama pants that should fit you, Stone.” He grabbed Stone’s hand and gently tugged him down the short hallway to the bedroom.

Cassandra was right; the king size bed was clearly big enough to fit them all. It took up half the room easily. Ezekiel dug around in one of the drawers in the dresser, triumphantly pulling out the pants and tossing them to Stone. Cassandra, who had disappeared for a moment, reappeared with a toothbrush still in its packaging, and handed it to Stone.

Not even ten minutes later, everyone had done their before bed routines. Ezekiel had given him an appreciative look over when Stone walked into the bedroom shirtless. He wasn’t sure how Ezekiel knew he didn’t tend to wear a top unless it was cold; more than likely Ezekiel just wanted to see him with his shirt off, he figured.

They opted for a similar order as they were on the couch; Stone in the middle and Cassandra and Ezekiel on either side. Stone found his eyelids drooping as soon as his head hit the pillow. “G’ night,” he mumbled, giving each of them a kiss on the forehead.

By the time he heard her reply, an echo of his statement around a yawn, he was almost asleep. He thought Ezekiel was already off in snoozeland, but just as Stone slipped into unconsciousness, he heard a faintly whispered “love you” in his ear.

Maybe he just imagined it, but Stone was sure he fell asleep with a smile on his face.

-----

Post Notes: Stone's outfit is the outfit he wore in the alternate universe where he was the Librarian in “And the Loom of Fate.” Also the Library having backpacks prepared for them comes from @hamelott ‘s fic which I thought was cool. That I know of, Logan Peak does exist in Utah, but in Colorado I don’t think there is one, at least that’s what google told me.

If the perspective switching tripped you up, the order it goes in (separated by italic paragraphs) is: AU Stone, canon Stone, AU Ezekiel, canon Ezekiel, AU Cassandra, and canon Cassandra. Before Stone grabs the amulet and after cannon Cassandra returns to her universe is omniscient third person narrator, mostly centering on Stone. The idea was cool in my outline...but a lot harder to write in a clear enough manner, so sorry if it was a bit confusing.

#jassekiel week #jassekiel #the librarians fic #the librarians shipathon #shipathon17 #librariansshipathon #jacob stone #cassandra cillian #ezekiel jones #eve baird #flynn carsen #jenkins #body swapping #flynn writes #land pirate au

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adapted-batteries · 7 years

Text

The LiTs Go Clubbing

Fandom: The Librarians

Rating: Teen and up (only for a bit of language)

Ships: Jassekiel

A mission leads the trio to a club in NYC, where Stone gets to rescue both of his co-workers, and possibly save most of Manhattan from being sucked into a void.

This is set in the Land Pirates AU that my other story “You Sultry Land Pirates Ruined My Dig!” is set in. This story may make more sense if you’ve read that beforehand in terms of previous interactions and such.

Also posted on my Ao3.

Edit on October 14th, 2017: I realize that I never explained how they got to the Portland Annex or how they met Jenkins, so I added a bit in to kind of fix that. To clarify, in this universe, Flynn actually knows about Jenkins and the Annex already, so Jenkins shared the backdoor technology years ago with him (I'm not sure why he didn't know about Jenkins in the show, kind of odd he didn't know after 10 years). The Portland Annex is the LiT's and Eve's main base of operations, while Flynn works back in New York City, but he's only a door away to get to their Annex.

-----

Just three weeks after Dr. Stone, Ezekiel, and Cassandra received their invitations, they found themselves off on a mission, this time without Colonel Baird to guide them. She had been training the trio to be Librarians like Flynn, with the help of Jenkins in the Portland Annex, where Flynn had booted them to for training. Of course said Librarian was off chasing down some lead on Dulaque hopefully, and had dragged Colonel Baird with him.

Dulaque was a sore subject for the two land pirates. Ezekiel and Cassandra had been hired by him to take the book of Serhem from Dr. Stone’s excavation. At the time they didn’t know any better, but since their enlightenment to the world of magic, and consequently Dulaque’s troubling gathering of magic artifacts, both felt guilty for working with the man.

Today, thankfully, the clippings book sent them on an unrelated mission to New York City. Apparently some “strange happenings” had been going on near a specific set of blocks, and after Cassandra’s mental mapping of locations, in a pentagram-like pattern around a particular building that housed a club on the first floor and basement. After spending a day investigating the various sites of the magical incidents (namely people disappearing or things appearing in puffs of purple-black smoke) the Librarians-in-Training (or LiTs as Flynn liked to call them) decided a visit to the club that night was in order.

Ezekiel and Cassandra were well-equipped wardrobe wise to go clubbing, however Dr. Stone walked into the main room of the Annex looking like he was about to visit a country bar in rural Oklahoma. “Seriously? A cowboy in NYC, that won’t stick out one bit,” Ezekiel scoffed, leaning against the table while he waited. He had on a pair of low cut black boots, slim, black pants, a blue and yellow plaid sports jacket over a striped shirt, and a mustard colored ascot with a broach to tie it all together.

“Hey, I don’t have all the new ‘threads’ in my closet like you two do,” Stone retorted, looking down at his maroon and tan plaid shirt and dark blue jean combo self-consciously. “I think my outfit is just fine, thank you very much.” Stone was secretly glad he decided to leave his black stetson in his truck.

“You don’t get out much, do you Mr. Stone,” a booming voice said behind the cowboy, making him jump slightly. Jenkins had just walked through the same door Stone had moments before, a worn book in hand. “Unfortunately with this one, I have to agree with Mr. Jones. In a New York club, you will stick out like an ent would walking down the street.” Ezekiel’s eyebrows arched for a moment.

“Really? That’s the analogy you go for?” Stone replied, annoyed. “And how do you know what’s in to wear?”

“I may not be up to date in this century’s fashion, but I do know that clubs haven’t changed that much since I last went,” Jenkins explained.

“Jenkins...clubbing...I just can’t picture that,” Ezekiel chuckled.

“I’ve not been in the Annex for that long, Mr. Jones,” Jenkins replied coolly, looking down at him for effect. “I’ll have you know I frequented the Cotton Club, among other places.”

“Pretty sure the club we’re goin’ to isn’t gonna be like the Cotton Club,” Stone said, stifling a laugh from the thought of Jenkins clubbing. Jenkins narrowed his eyes at Stone like he knew what the cowboy was thinking, so Stone looked back down at his clothes. “It’s not like I’ve got anythin’ else to wear anyway,” he mumbled. Jenkins shook his head while rolling his eyes, then continued to his desk.

“Mate, you’re in a magical library. I’m sure we can find something more...modern,” Ezekiel laughed, amused by Jenkins’s expression.

“Oh boy,” Cassandra’s voice rang through the Annex. Both men looked to the door as she walked through. She had on some high-heeled, leather boots that went just over her ankles, black leather-like leggings to match, a dark blue pea coat with gold hemmed edges, and a white scarf with a different broach than Ezekiel’s. “A trip to the costume room, before we go?” She nodded to Ezekiel, then turned back on herself to go to said room.

“Ya’ll know how to make a man feel inadequately dressed,” Stone mumbled as he followed her out.

“At least we actually help you fix it too,” Ezekiel replied, play-elbowing Stone in the side as they walked behind Cassandra.

Twenty minutes and a few outfits later, the trio returned to the main room in the Annex with a freshly made-over Stone. Cassandra had found a black sleeveless jacket and a grey waistcoat, Ezekiel found a navy undershirt that tastefully highlighted Stone’s biceps, and a leather chest strap thing that he insisted looked “cool” over the waistcoat, and Stone, feeling left out in the neck department, found a navy and dark blue dotted scarf with a little black brooch on it. They let him keep his dark jeans and tan workman boots, now that he wasn’t a flaming cowboy.

Jenkins glanced up from another book he’d acquired while they were busy. “Much better,” he commented. He grabbed a piece of paper and stuck it in the book to keep his place while he dialed up the backdoor for them again. “Now don’t have too much fun while doing your reconnaissance,” Jenkins added.

“Yeah yeah, we know,” Ezekiel said, dramatically looking up at the ceiling. “Hurry up and open the backdoor already.” Jenkins huffed, but within seconds the magical blue glow seeped around the doors.

“Call when you’re ready to come back. It should open in the same place, hopefully,” Jenkins said, holding the door open for them. Without hesitation, Ezekiel lept through the door; Cassandra and Stone looked at each other like mildly exasperated parents before doing the same.

It was around ten at night, but the street itself was lit as bright as day from various neon signs and street lights. They were down in Greenwich Village, on a Friday night, so many people were wandering from bar to club to food or other places that young people go on Friday night.

“Alright, Club 10 should be just around the corner,” Cassandra stated, pointing towards a group of people going the same direction.

“What an original name,” Stone remarked sarcastically as they started walking.

“It's at least accurate, considering it's on 10th street,” Cassandra replied. Stone just shrugged in response. “So what do you think we should be looking for in there?”

“I dunno, anything magical,” Ezekiel answered distractedly as he looked around them.

“Gee, I hadn't thought of that,” Stone smirked. “I’d look for any sigils, repeating patterns, runes, et cetera. The magic seems to be more European than anything else.”

“I’ll be sure to check the bar,” Ezekiel quipped, jumping back into the conversation.

“Actually that’s not a bad idea,” Cassandra started. Both men looked at her, confused. “I mean that would be the best place to hide potions in plain sight, or use them on people.”

“With that in mind, it’d be best to not drink anythin’,” Stone added, eyeing Ezekiel.

Ezekiel sighed dramatically and stomped a foot. “You guys are no fun, I swear.”

“If ya want to drink something that may turn ya into, oh I dunno, a stone statue or magically dissolve your insides, be my guest,” Stone replied with shrug. “Though if ya find something like that, I bet Jenkins would like it if ya brought it back to him.”

As the trio rounded the corner, they saw a fairly good sized crowd filling the sidewalk outside a brick building adorned with a simple white neon sign that said “CLUB 10” in blocky print. A bouncer stood a couple feet above the crowd on a concrete platform leading to the entrance, frowning at no one in particular. People filed in regularly, suggesting there wasn’t much of a wait to get in. A driving bass line and synths escaped through the opening door, but all evidence that a club was housed inside the brick walls disappeared once the simple looking glass door shut.

“Ugh, lines,” Ezekiel said as they neared the mass of people. “I bet there’s a backdoor somewhere.”

“Or we could just wait, like normal people,” Stone retorted. “Course a thief like you probably wouldn’t understand that concept.”

Ezekiel narrowed his eyes at Stone. “Mate, you can’t steal anything good if you don’t have patience.” He glanced up at the slowly moving queue, scrutinizing the people like he was a king looking down on peasants. “A thief knows when it’s worth it to wait.” He then looked back to Stone with a mischievous look in his eyes and a smile on his face. Stone countered with a scowl of his own, knowing Ezekiel was planning something. Remembering Cassandra, Ezekiel glanced at her, getting a look that told him it was pointless. “This time, we wait,” he said, surrendering with a sigh.

Much to Ezekiel’s approval, they only spent about ten minutes waiting before they got their chance to enter. Though the building looked old, the walls seemed to be totally sound proof, as the bass unexpectedly hit them. The atmosphere was characteristically “clubby”: various colored lights flicking around an open space, a dj booth towards the front, dimmed lighting with somewhat comfortable looking seating against the walls, a bar to the right set into the wall. The crowd mainly clustered towards the dancefloor, but a fair few people dispersed around the edges, and some entered and exited two glass double doors on the left, wisps of smoke puffing out when they opened.

Stone was going to tell the other two he thought they should split up, but of course Ezekiel was already gone. He gave Cassandra the ever frequent look of “Why does he have to do that?” to which she responded with the only answer anyone ever did: a shrug of the shoulders and a small, pitying not-quite smile. Not feeling like yelling over the music, he simply pointed opposite directions with his thumbs, and Cassandra nodded back, then strode towards the mass of people. He thought he saw a glimpse of Ezekiel’s head over by the bar, so Stone decided to cover the left side of the room, and whatever lay behind the double doors.

Following the wall, Stone found nothing unusual about the rather plain decor. No hidden runes, no magical circles in the floor, nothing that would suggest magical happenings going on in this building. It looked just like a club, nothing else, except for the tinted double doors. Though he may not be familiar with club layouts, he didn’t think many regularly had smoke emitting basements. Going down the L-shaped steps that lay just behind the doors, he guessed correctly that it was a sort of designated smoking room, though he smelt more than just tobacco and weed smoke. If anything there were floral notes, herbal even, like someone was also burning a variety of incense too.

It was just as dark as the floor above, but there were no strobe lights to give extra light. Unlike outside, the bass thudded through the ceiling, mingled with the low murmur of the twenty or so people talking amongst themselves as they sat on various couches, chairs, and the rug covered floor. A little bar sat in the corner nearest the stairs, selling overpriced cigars and such, staffed by a bored looking attendant. He skirted the room, sticking to the old wood-paneled walls, trying to get the layout, but he knew for a fact this room was only half as deep as the floor above, something that wouldn’t be very unusual for a basement if it hadn’t been for the door hidden behind some fake plants where the rest of the room should be.

Deciding that the others should know about the mystery door, Stone returned back to the main floor. Instinct took him to the bar, where he found Cassandra talking to a girl fairly intently at one of the couch and coffee tables nearby and Ezekiel being chatted up by some guy with gelled up hair at the bar. He hadn’t known Ezekiel for long, but he could tell Ezekiel didn’t care for this guy’s advances. Stone couldn’t see the stranger’s face, but Ezekiel was having a hard time hiding his discomfort with weak chuckles and eyes darting to and fro. It wasn’t long before that darting zeroed in on Stone, eyebrows moving up ever so slightly and eyes widened. The stranger said something that got Ezekiel to look back at him, but Stone was already on the move.

The somewhat muscly white guy didn’t seem to have volume control anymore; Stone could hear what he was saying even though he was still ten feet away. “So like, I waz thinkin’, m’place izn’t far, maybe we cou’ ditch thiz dump,” the stranger slurred, sloppily grabbing at Ezekiel’s shoulder like he aimed too far over. Ezekiel shrugged it off and mumbled something Stone couldn’t hear, which apparently pissed off the drunk dude as his grip returned tighter to Ezekiel’s arm. “Hey, I bought you a drink babe, leazt ya can do iz come wi’ me.”

“Hey, Ezekiel, I’ve been lookin’ all over for you man!” Stone butted in, purposely bumping into the stranger’s outstretched arm so he could be as in between the two as he could without being super obvious. It worked enough to make the drunk drop his grasp as he looked over Stone.

“Oh, hey Stone,” Ezekiel said faux nonchalantly, a hint of relief slipping out.

“Hey, I got here firzt, I get dibz,” the guy said, narrowing his eyes at Stone before standing up from where he’d been slouching against the bartop. Stone could still take him on, no problem, but now the guy went from maybe an inch taller than him to a good half a foot at least. “Beat it before I beat you.”

“Well that’s funny ya think you got ‘dibs’,” Stone started, doing air quotes, “‘cos this one here is mine.” He saw Ezekiel’s eyes widen slightly at the statement, and apparently so did the dude.

“I don’t believe you. Yur just tryna take ‘im from me,” the drunk snarled, forcefully shoving himself against Stone to move him out of the way. Stone stumbled back a bit, not expecting the drunk to assault him, but quickly returned the hip check. That brought him more room than he’d lost as the drunk stumbled back towards the counter for support, his legs not quite getting the whole “standing up” thing.

“Be forceful all ya want, but like I said, he’s mine, and some drunk kid ain’t gonna take him from me,” Stone replied, almost growling the last bit of his statement. The drunk was already back on his feet, about to get rid of Stone once and for all, so Stone wrapped his arm around Ezekiel’s waist and in a mild panic, kissed him as soon as Ezekiel looked at him in reaction to the arm.

Stone wasn’t sure how long they stayed like that, but the two pulled apart as they heard the drunk slur out “fuck you,” and watched him stagger off towards the mass of people on the dancefloor.

“I, uh, I think he’s gone,” Ezekiel stuttered. Stone remembered he was still holding on to him and that their faces were very close, so he released his grip and put a good few feet in between them.

“You alright?” Stone asked, watching Ezekiel carefully.

“Yeah. It’s not the first time I’ve had to deal with those types of people before,” Ezekiel answered, brushing it off like he totally had it under control. Stone decided not to patronize him about it. “He actually gave me some info, before he decided to show me he couldn’t hold his tequila worth shit.”

“Wait you drank something?” Stone interjected, eyes widening in concern.

“I’m not that stupid, Stone, God,” Ezekiel retorted, back to his normal self. “The floor is probably gonna be sticky in the morning, but Piss-Brain wasn’t exactly paying attention at all.”

Stone literally sighed with relief, earning a curious look from Ezekiel. “Ok, so what info did he give you?” Stone asked, hoping something good came out of Ezekiel’s suffering.

“There’s been word on NYU campus that some students were in a cult, somewhere in this area,” Ezekiel said, moving his arms around like he was trying to make a semicircle in front of himself. “And apparently the weird magic things started up just as those rumors started going around the school.”

“Well that makes what I found more fun then,” Stone started, leaning closer to Ezekiel so no one would hear. “Half the basement is behind a rather poorly hidden door.”

“That can’t be a coincidence,” Ezekiel said.

“I’ve got the bad feeling it’s not,” Stone added. “If we’re gonna find what’s causing it all, it’ll be behind that door.”

“We need to find Cassandra and check it out,” Ezekiel began, searching the vicinity for her. “Well shit.”

“What?” Stone asked, turning on his heels to see what got Ezekiel’s attention. Sure enough, the asshole from a few minutes ago had invaded where Stone had seen Cassandra before. The other girl was nowhere to be seen, and Cassandra was quite obviously sliding down the small couch away from him, quickly running out of space. “Well I guess I do get to punch someone tonight,” Stone huffed, rolling his neck and moving his shoulders like a boxer.

Ezekiel grabbed his arm before Stone could charge over to them, spinning the cowboy in disguise around to face him. “Wait, if you make a scene you’ll get thrown out,” he said, eyes pleading, a look Stone hadn’t seen before.

That look took a mere three seconds before it broke Stone’s anger. “Alright. I’ll handle it civilly,” he relented. “Go downstairs and check out the far wall, where a cluster of fake plants are. No one will pay you any mind down there. I’ll bring Cassandra down in a couple minutes.”

“Please, don’t make a scene,” Ezekiel said.

“I promise I won’t, don’t worry,” Stone chuckled, amused by Ezekiel’s concern. Noticing a pressure that had been there for awhile now, Stone glanced down at Ezekiel’s hand wrapped around the middle of his forearm. “Though I can’t do anything if you don’t let me go…”

“Oh, sorry. Alright, door badly hidden, got it. Was it locked?” Ezekiel asked, quickly changing the subject.

“I don’t know, I didn’t try it while I was there incase it was trapped or something,” Stone replied. “I figured you could best handle that.”

“Right, I am the best,” Ezekiel smirked, even adding a wink, before making his way to the double doors.

Cassandra seemed to be holding up better than Ezekiel had looked, however she also looked like she was seconds away from slapping the idiot. Just as before, Stone swooped in, grabbing the hand about to make a speedy connection with the drunk’s face and pulling her up to him. “Hi Cassie,” Stone drawled, trying to sound as infatuated as he could. “This punk givin’ you trouble?”

“You again!” The drunk yelled, but his yell didn’t get over the din of the club. He stood up to attempt to intimidate Stone again. “Now I know yur fakin’. Where’z th’ twink, I liked ‘im better anyway.”

“Where he went is none of your damn business,” Stone replied coolly, still holding onto Cassandra.

“Hid ‘im frm me, did ya? Well she’ll work too,” the drunk said, taking a step towards them. “If you’d been nice ta me, I wuld’ve invited ya too.”

“Nope,” Stone started, pulling Cassandra with him a couple feet back, making the dude stumble forward where he thought he was going to grab her. “She’s mine too.”

“If he’z yurz, Sh’ can’t b’ yurz too,” the drunk reasoned out loud. “Go on, kiss hur thn if she’z actully yurz.”

Stone did exactly as the drunk demanded. Cassandra didn’t seem near as shocked as Ezekiel had been, and in fact she pulled away first to play her part. “Have you never heard of polyamory before?” she asked, voice dripping with venomous sweetness as she stuck to Stone’s side.

“You people are sick!” the drunk yelled yet again, this time backing away from Stone and Cassandra like they were diseased animals. Unfortunately for him, he didn’t remember that there was a coffee table behind him, and took a rather ungraceful trip to the floor.

“Serves ya right,” Stone laughed, turning himself and Cassandra to meet up with Ezekiel. It was easy enough for them to disperse into the crowd and leave the drunk half awake on the floor. “There’s a secret door down below, probably where we’re looking for,” he whispered into Cassandra’s ear while they navigated through the stuffy room.

“What was the whole 'he’s yours' thing about?” Cassandra asked, curiosity getting the best of her.

“I had to rescue Ezekiel from that asshole,” Stone replied, shouldering his way past some people.

“I assume you probably did the same thing as you did for me?” Cassandra asked, piecing it together based on the drunk’s reaction.

“More or less, yeah,” Stone answered. “I was gonna just punch him for you but Ezekiel practically begged me not to make a scene.” Cassandra looked at him, waiting for him to explain why he suddenly listened to Ezekiel. “That boy has puppy dog eyes and he knows how to use them,” Stone added, trying to explain himself.

“He normally uses them on...sources of information…” she said, hoping Stone would get what she was saying.

“So he manipulated me?” Stone asked as they neared the glass doors.

“Well I can’t say that for certain, since there’s those eyes and then there’s Ezekiel being real with you eyes too, and he could’ve been concerned about what would happen to you if you got in a fight, soo…” Cassandra started, backpedaling.

“We can talk later,” Stone said, grabbing the glass door and opening it for her. “He can explain himself then.”

Like before, a wave of smokes greeted them as they descended the stairs. He saw Cassandra wrinkle her nose a bit out of the corner of his eye, but for the most part she walked calmly, taking in as much of the surroundings as she could with her eyes and ears. Only a few less buzzed people and the attendant glanced boredly in their direction, but most people still kept to themselves.

“Why do I smell sage burning?” Cassandra asked, leaning towards Stone to whisper.

“I gotta feeling it’s coming from behind the door, ‘cos there’s no incense burners in here that I could find,” Stone answered, scanning the room for Ezekiel. “But the sage is new, it smelt more like lavender before.” The dim light didn’t help at all; anyone not standing near a lamp or low overhead light were silhouettes more than distinguishable faces. He figured Ezekiel would be watching for them wherever he was, so he gently tugged Cassandra by elbow towards the most direct route to the back of the room.

A shape leaned against the wall next to the door, arm bringing a hand to a face. A faint glow flared as the person inhaled, then the hand returned to near the hip as they breathed out a cloud of smoke. Stone wasn’t sure how he was going to get this person away from the door so they could get in, however person didn’t let him have time to think up a plan.

“Took you long enough,” Ezekiel said, stepping into the light in a rather dramatic fashion. He took one last draw from the stump of a cigarette before leaning over to a nearby table and sticking it in the bowl of sand. “I almost had to start another one.”

“You smoke?” Stone asked, keeping his voice quiet.

“Only when I need to, like now,” Ezekiel replied with a shrug. “The door’s not locked or trapped that I can tell.”

“So how are we going to get in without people noticing?” Cassandra asked, glancing around the room.

“Easy, I just need to disable the lights in here for a bit, let them clear out, then viola, no one’s in the room to see us sneak in,” Ezekiel explained.

“Ok, how are ya gonna do that?” Stone asked.

“Lucky for us they’ve got an alarm setup I’ve hacked numerous times before, so I can set off the fire alarm in a few seconds,” Ezekiel explained, waving his phone for effect. “It will most likely get the fire department though, even if I can successfully block the signal, and there’s a chance management does like they’re supposed to and call the alarm company.”

“Sounds like we gotta work fast, disabling or preferably taking whatever’s behind that door,” Stone concluded, glancing around the room for himself. No one seemed to be paying any attention to the trio at all. “I say go for it.”

“Ok just give me a minute to bypass the trigger for the emergency lighting, ‘cos that won’t help...alright let's hope that block holds...and,” Ezekiel pressed a button on the screen and within a few seconds, and alarm blared overhead.

“Dammit the lights didn’t turn on, ugh, Alright everyone needs to go upstairs immediately, follow the crowd,” the attendant yelled over the alarm, annoyance filling his voice. The crowd, though slowly and with reluctance, got up as he instructed, filling up the stairs in a not particularly rushed fashion. While the crowd hid them and occupied the sole employee, the trio quickly moved all the plants out of the way, revealing a simple wooden door that matched the panelling around it.

Ezekiel reached for the doorknob first not bothering to open it quietly. Sure enough it swung open easily, revealing the rest of the room with unfinished walls and a concrete floor, a few electric lamps dotted about, and most disconcertingly, a large circle on the floor with things sitting in what looked to be specific places with a startled group of five or so college-age looking people standing around it.

“Y...you’re not supposed to be here,” the one nearest them stammered. He looked fresh out of high school, still not quite grown into his body, and he wore an obnoxious looking dark robe that was several inches too big in all directions. He also held a notebook with scribbled handwriting all over it.

“Yeah? Well you’re not supposed to be doing magic!” Stone shouted, getting his desired effect of startling the kids more, except for one, who seemed annoyed more than anything. Her robe fit her better, and she looked like she knew exactly what she was doing, or wanted to do anyway.

“Brett it doesn’t matter, just finish the ritual!” she shouted at the lanky boy, who frantically looked back at her, then at the intruders, then to his notebook.

Stone was moving before he even finished the first word. “Oh no you don’t!” he roared, closing the space between himself and Brett faster than he anticipated. This also meant that instead of merely grappling the boy, Stone sent the boy flying to the ground and about gave himself the same fate. The kid, very much afraid of the wall of man that just tried to flatten him, tried to scurry back into the circle and away from Stone, smudging some of the runes. The kid wasn’t paying attention to holding onto the notebook either, letting Stone easily pluck it out of his hands. “Collect whatever they’ve got here,” Stone commanded, turning his head slightly to Ezekiel and Cassandra behind him.

“What is this stuff?” Ezekiel asked as he neared the kids, who all backed away from him slightly like they were afraid he’d do the same thing Stone had.

“Well, if I’m reading this scrawl right, I’d say it’s Latin, and the circle’s probably something out of a 16th century Germanic folklore book,” Stone answered, squinting down at the notebook.

“You can’t do this!” The girl from before shouted, trying to be more intimidating than she probably felt.

“I’m sure as hell not gonna let you suck up the people in this building into wherever people and things have been coming and going,” Stone retorted, narrowing his eyes at her. “Do you even know what you’re dabbling with?”

“Actually yes I do,” she replied, putting her hands on her hips defiantly.

“If you actually knew you wouldn’t be messin’ around with this stuff,” Stone said. The girl had a quick eye conversation with Brett, who cowered next to her. Then without warning, the kids shot towards the back of the room, pushing a panel aside that revealed stairs that probably exited outside in the alleyway behind the building. Ezekiel started giving chase but Stone called him off. “Let ‘em go, I’ve got their spell book and based on the wear, is the only resource they had for information.”

“Are you sure?” Cassandra asked, peeking over his shoulder at the notebook, arms holding a few snuffed candles, a foot of some animal, and some bundles of herbs partially blackened.

“If anything, we’ve put a halt to their activities for a few days at least,” Stone responded, glancing around the room. “Take a picture of that circle, I’m sure Jenkins will want to see it.”

“Already on it,” Ezekiel said, holding his phone above himself to get the whole circle in the picture.

“You wouldn’t happen to have found anything else useful at the bar, did you?” Stone asked as he looked around the edges of the room for anything else the kids may have left behind.

“If by useful you mean this,” Ezekiel started, pulling a small, dark rectangular bottle out from his coat’s inner pocket, “then yes, I did. I noticed the bartender giving it to people who asked for a drink called “forget-me-not” and decided to nick it after I saw someone drink it and suddenly...well...change demeanor way quicker than alcohol ever could.”

“They probably have more things up there,” Cassandra suggested, walking towards the door. She leaned against it, listened for a moment, then abruptly stood up straight and pointed towards where the kids ran. “People coming, we gotta leave now!” she said in a hushed whisper. With quick nods of understanding, the men followed Cassandra into the staircase. Stone grabbed the discretely hinged board and pulled it closed behind them, but stopped to listen to the voices that echoed off the concrete.

“See I told you someone was snooping around here, Carl was right when he texted you about the people hovering by the door before the alarm went off,” a voice said, sounding uncomfortably familiar to Stone. Ezekiel poked him in the shoulder to get him moving, but Stone waved him off, still listening. “I bet you it was the same guy who was fucking with my game earlier.”

At that bit of information, Stone glanced at the two with wide eyes. “Drunk guy from tonight is in on the magic, and not actually drunk,” he whispered, leaning back towards the door.

A new voice talked now, this one sounding like a lady. “I’m sure Freisha got them all out before whoever it was could get them. She’s my apprentice for a reason. Go on and occupy the firemen while I shroud the door so they don’t go snooping where they shouldn’t.” The man mumbled something and Stone heard footsteps and the door shut.

“Ok, they left, let’s go,” Stone said, turning around and ushering the two up the stairs. Sure enough, the stairs brought them to a slanted door that opened into the alleyway, which thankfully was empty. To the left, red and blue lights reflected off buildings, making weird shadows.

“We can go the long way to get back to the backdoor’s last location,” Cassandra said, shifting the things in her arms. Stone realized he only had the notebook so he grabbed the candles from her to lighten the load.

“I’ll call Jenkins and let him know we’re ready,” Ezekiel said, pulling out his phone and typing on it.

Fortunately for the LiTs, the firemen had no desire to look in the alley, so they easily put distance between them and Club 10. Stone caught them up with what he heard while they walked to the location they originally arrived in NYC. The backdoor mostly stayed there, only moving a couple doors south of where it had been.

“I assumed you would be longer,” Jenkins greeted them as they stumbled into the Annex.

“We kind of had to leave before some crazy witch found us,” Ezekiel said casually, pulling out the bottle and ignoring Jenkins’s look of confusion. “I think this is a potion that does something.”

“What an astute observation,” Jenkins quipped, before turning to Stone and Cassandra who had dumped their items on the table. “So what exactly did you find?”

“I thought it was kids messing around with magic, but I think someone’s teaching them...though poorly,” Stone said, handing Jenkins the notebook. “The stuff in here is hastily compiled, like they were taking notes from someone, and I think their teacher about found us.”

“This teacher I take is the ‘crazy witch’ Mr. Jones referenced?” Jenkins clarified, flipping through the notebook.

“Yeah, and one of her goons may have gotten on our trail,” Stone mumbled, glancing at the other two LiTs.

Suddenly Jenkins’s eyebrows furrowed, his expression almost grave. “Did you see the lady?”

“Uh, no, I only heard her,” Stone answered, glancing towards Cassandra. “Who were you talking about before Asshole came over?”

“Um, I’m not sure, she just told me about what had been going on in the club, the rumors,” she started, thinking hard. “Nothing about her struck me as ‘magic’ or anything, and she didn’t sound the same as the lady I heard before we hid in the stairway.”

“Based on this,” Jenkins held the notebook up and pointed to a series of notes, “I have reason to believe this may be Morgan le Fey.”

“Morgan...le Fey...like Arthurian legends?” Stone asked, hoping he was wrong.

“Yes. Which could be very, very bad,” Jenkins confirmed, setting the notebook down on the table.

“Wait, how do you know it’s her?” Ezekiel asked, looking down at the notes.

“When it comes to old magic, such as hers, there are things that get...invented, or discovered, by those with great skill. Now as people use it, the wording or techniques change, and especially over a thousand years, the originals don’t exist in their pure form anymore. However, this method of summoning,” Jenkins paused, pointing at the passage, “that is something Morgan developed a long time ago.”

“Ok, but she wasn’t doing the magic, she couldn’t have been, unless she got sloppy,” Ezekiel thought aloud.

“I don’t think she was, I mean those kids were about to do something before we burst in the room,” Stone said.

“So she’s training kids, but for what?” Cassandra asked.

“What indeed,” Jenkins hummed. He grabbed the bottle of potion Ezekiel had set down on the table. “Was this the only bottle there?”

“It was the only bottle the bartender used regularly, that I didn’t recognize, and that made people act different,” Ezekiel answered. “I would’ve liked to hit the bar before we left, but our hasty exit didn’t exactly allow for it.”

“And what exactly do you mean by ‘different?’” Jenkins asked, looking at the bottle intently, slightly swishing the liquid inside.

“Uh, well, they seemed almost like glowy, like after they drank they were more, I dunno, important or something,” Ezekiel attempted to explain.

“More prominent in your field of vision, perhaps?” Jenkins suggested.

“Yeah, I guess,” Ezekiel confirmed. “Why would people want to drink that?”

“Well, as their clever name suggests, the potion is meant to make a person be more memorable, or unforgettable, presumably to get laid or whatever you kids do nowdays,” Jenkins explained with a roll of his eyes. “It used to be something struggling dukes or brash princes would buy to enhance their reputation artificially.”

“So we not only have potentially dangerous rituals to deal with and a legendary sorceress, but potion selling as well,” Stone said.

“Unfortunately yes, and this needs to be shut down or at least mitigate whatever she’s intending to do,” Jenkins confirmed with a look that suggested he was none too pleased about this development. “Morgan is extremely dangerous. I’ve not heard of her whereabouts in at least a century, so I don’t know what she’s planning, but it must be big enough to jump on the Library’s radar.”

“Should we wait for Flynn and Colonel Baird?” Cassandra asked, glancing to the other LiTs. Ezekiel gave a look of disapproval, but Stone looked more apprehensive.

“Regardless whether you want to wait, it would be wise to do some research before going back there,” Jenkins suggested, pointing up above them. “What the Library has of magical literature on European magical practices will be upstairs. While you do that, I want to make sure this is the potion I think it is, and mix some common antidotes and cancelling potions as I have the feeling they will come in handy.”

“Can we actually take her out?” Stone asked, not thinking highly of their chances against her.

“Oh no, Morgan’s about as powerful as it comes. We’ll only be a minor setback to her, but as long as that setback saves people, then we will have done some good,” Jenkins answered, a faint, pitying smile on his face. “I suggest finding safe ways to dismantle activated circles, potential locations for wherever they are summoning things from, other things they may summon, and so forth.” With that, Jenkins nodded to the LiTs and strode through the double doors to his lab.

“I’m gonna look over this notebook we got, try to make some more notes of my own, though I’ll make sure to be more readable,” Cassandra declared, collecting the notebook and her own notebook that had been sitting nearby on the table.

“Guess that means we’re stuck on reading duty,” Stone said, lightly whacking Ezekiel in the arm before he walked over to the desk he had claimed as soon as he arrived at the Annex to grab his own well-used notebook and a pencil. Cassandra had already settled in at the main table, busy writing something down.

It turned out the Library had a lot on European magic, a whole bookcase-full in fact. “Uh, I guess I’ll take the bottom three shelves, and you can look through the top three,” Ezekiel suggested, squatting.

“Sounds like a plan,” Stone replied, pulling a book out from from the shelf above Ezekiel’s head. “I think we’ll be here for awhile.” Ezekiel had grabbed an old looking book and sat with his back against the shelf, next to the balcony railing. Stone sat down next to him, balancing his book on his left leg and his notebook on the right, flipping through the first few pages, but his mind drifted back to the club. “So what was that face back in the club?”

“What?” Ezekiel glanced up from his tome, eyes squinting slightly in confusion.

“You know, that face you made when you begged me to not sock the dude to get him away from Cassandra,” Stone said, tilting his head down slightly. “I’ve seen a fair few of your faces by now, this was new.”

Ezekiel opened his mouth, closed it for a second while he reconsidered his statement, then spoke. “Am I not allowed to show concern about you getting thrown out by the bouncer while we were in the middle of an important mission?”

“Sure, but you don’t strike me as one to actually show pure concern like that,” Stone shrugged. “You always joke around or laugh it off or use sarcasm, but you looked at me like I was about to walk into my doom or something.”

“Maybe you were a little past diffusing jokes,” Ezekiel suggested, turning the conversation back on him. “To me anyway you seemed really aggressive, and I needed to stop you before you acted on it.”

“So you used your manipulation eyes on me?!” Stone retorted, not sure why he felt so worked up.

“Wha-manipulation eyes…” Ezekiel paused, leaning against the railing and looking down at Cassandra, “did you give him that?”

“He asked, I answered with the information I had available,” Cassandra replied loudly.

Ezekiel sighed and leaned back against the bookcase. “Look, yeah, I know how to manipulate people, that’s old news. I didn’t want you getting in a fight, making a scene, getting hurt, so I used what I thought was the better of my two options,” he explained, suddenly finding the top of the bookshelf across from them very interesting.

“Other option?” Stone inquired, raising an eyebrow at him.

Ezekiel looked back at him, and Stone swore he saw a faint blush on Ezekiel’s face. “Uh, well, I mean right after your little scene with Asshole, I thought I could, um, shock you like you did me.”

“I wasn’t actin’,” Stone mumbled under his breath, looking back down at his still empty notebook.

Ezekiel wasn’t letting him escape, eyebrows raised in curiosity. “You weren’t?” he asked, feigning ignorance.

“Uh, I mean, well,” Stone stuttered, suddenly flustered at Ezekiel’s attention. Ezekiel couldn’t help but laugh at him a little.

“Don’t worry, I know you’re the jealous type,” Ezekiel added. Stone started to object but Ezekiel cut him off. “It was easy enough to notice when you rescued Cassandra.”

“Am I not allowed to care about the well-being of my friends?” Stone retorted, throwing Ezekiel’s earlier statement back onto him.

“Uh, sure, but you’re the one that not once, but twice, asserted we were ‘yours’ to defend us,” Ezekiel replied. Stone bit back his comment; Ezekiel decided to get in some banter. “I totally understand why you’d want us for yourself, we’re both super hot.”

“You’re right,” Stone said with a straight face, besides the slight raise of his eyebrows. From down below Cassandra choked on something, coughs echoing through the Annex. Ezekiel was just as caught off guard, mouth hanging slightly open. Stone shrugged, pokerface broken as he snickered a bit, unconsciously running a hand through his hair. “It’s not like I could deny it, especially when we first met. I figured it was pretty obvious.”

“Um, well, I didn’t know you felt that way,” Ezekiel stammered, not sure how to respond.

“I had my suspicions,” Cassandra called up to the balcony, now recovered from her cough attack.

“Ya know ya don’t have to yell, ya can just come up here,” Stone called back to her. The squeal of a stool sliding on polished floor, along with the patters of what sounded like bare feet, signaled Cassandra’s hasty ascent to the balcony. Within a few moments she appeared at the top of the stairs looking the same as she had been when they went up, albeit lacking her boots. For a moment she looked quite giddy, but Stone’s glimpse behind the personality he normally saw faded as quickly as she had ascended the stairs. He saw her and Ezekiel look at each other, full on eye conversation going on. After several seconds of awkward silence, Cassandra eventually broke it.

“Based off how you acted, and tonight,” Cassandra continued her statement, now a lot less loud and echoing. “I wasn’t for sure, but it felt like a pretty good guess.”

“You weren’t gonna say anythin’ about it?” Stone asked, glancing from Ezekiel to her.

“I didn’t to...disrupt...our work-relationship,” Cassandra explained. “You weren’t exactly friendly to us at first, but then you relaxed, and then tonight…”

“I didn’t actually agree with her, but tonight made me reconsider,” Ezekiel added.

“Ok, so what does this mean? Are you guys sayin’ you feel the same way?” Stone said.

“I mean…” Ezekiel started, glancing from Stone to Cassandra and back to Stone.

“Yes,” Cassandra responded for the both of them. “Though I think we have a very pressing mission and if we’re alive afterwards, then we can figure out whatever this is.”

“Sounds reasonable,” Stone added, glancing down at the books still open on his lap. Motion in the edge of his vision made Stone look back up; Cassandra closed the distance from where she had been standing near the staircase to them, kneeling down next to Stone.

“However, that rescue was fun, and I didn’t get a chance to thank you for it,” she said with a smile on her face. Cassandra then leaned in and kissed him, quick but not quite chaste, before pulling back and standing up.

“Uh, y...you’re welcome,” Stone stammered, smiling back up at her. She gave him a smile back before turning on her heels and descending the staircase. Remembering Ezekiel, Stone looked over at him with a mild look of expectancy.

“What, are kisses the standard unit of thanks now?” Ezekiel asked with exaggerated exasperation.

“No, but I figured-” Stone started, thinking he had to explain himself, but Ezekiel cut him off with his own thank you kiss. In the back of Stone’s mind, he wondered if Ezekiel was trying to one-up Cassandra. Ezekiel pulled away before he could think about it any longer.

“There, happy now?” Ezekiel taunted, smirking at Stone’s mildly dazed look.

“Yeah, very,” Stone hummed, smile making his eyes squint. “Is that how you’re gonna thank me from now on?”

“Depends on what I’m thanking you for,” Ezekiel toyed, enjoying himself way too much.

“Before you two end up making out up there, can you at least find some useful things so we can prevent the potential destruction of the lower portion of New York City?” Cassandra called, annoyance mixed with amusement in her voice.

“Fiiinnnee,” Ezekiel sighed dramatically at the ceiling. He then winked at Stone, who got considerably more flustered by it than he should have, and resumed reading the book in his lap. Stone wasn’t exactly focused on his work now, but he figured with that looming promise, he could find something useful in the bookcase of information at their disposal.

-----

So in terms of the outfits, I couldn’t really think of anything so I opted for the Club Effigy outfits mostly for both Stone and Ezekiel. For Cassandra I modified hers to match her edgier personality she has in this au. Also, the club is fictional, that I know of it doesn't exist.

I intended for the focus to be the jassekiel, however my brain really liked the plot I had and went wild with it, so much for that I guess. Though if you’ve read my other works, it’s fairly obvious that I do this a lot. I have no clue if the plot regarding Morgan le Fey will get resolved, I didn't really write with a resolution in mind, but who knows what I'll end up writing over the summer.

#the librarians fic #the librarians #jassekiel #jacob stone #cassandra cillian #ezekiel jones #jenkins #land pirate au #clubbing #magic

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