Ezekiel was sick. An understatement at best. The first day or so he tried to hide it but then Jake found him throwing up in one of the many bathrooms of the Library and he knew he was done for. Needless to say, they sent him home. By anyone else's standards, that would be considered very nice of them, but not for Ezekiel. The Annex was warm in both atmosphere and actual temperature. It was bustling with the team that grew to become his family and it had a fridge full of food. Needless to say, it was the opposite of everything he had grown up with. His apartment was ok, it had a pullout bed and it wasn't too cold. It was a habitat, not a home. However, arguing was futile, so he went home to his apartment and slept for the rest of the day.

When he woke up the next morning everything was worse. He simply opened his eyes and the room spun. As he sat up, a crushing migraine formed immediately. He groaned as his stomach churned and twisted. Needless to say, he felt awful. He had almost dozed off again when his phone started buzzing. He picked it up and found that Jenkins was calling.

"Mr. Jones, I regret to inform you that a conclave has been called." Jenkins told him glumly.

"Okay…" Ezekiel rasped.

"I don't think you understand. You're the new official arbiter. You have to be here." Jenkins explained.

"What?! Can't someone else do it? I have the plague." He sat up with a bolt, regretting it as a wave of vertigo struck him.

"Unfortunately no, you spoke first for the Library, so you're the arbiter. Although it shouldn't be a terribly long Conclave if everything goes as planned." Jenkins actually felt bad. Ezekiel sounded awful and he didn't want him to get any worse.

"I'll be in as soon as I can." Ezekiel grumbles, finally getting out of bed. His body ached as tremors ran their course down his back. He coughed roughly into his elbow as he got into the shower, allowing the steam to work it's magic. When he got out he wasn't feeling much better but he threw on button up with nice khakis. Apparently the arbiter was supposed to be professional. He stuffed his pockets full of tissues and downed two decongestants before leaving.

"Oh Ezekiel…" Cassandra gasped when he walked in. He was whiter than Jenkins' hair, with the exception of his scarlet cheeks. His eyes were gaunt with dark, heavy bags underneath them. "You're not looking so hot."

"I'm not feeling so hot either…" He sniffled as he trudged to the center of the room. Cassandra was already making her way over to him. She kissed his forehead before giving him a piteous look.

"Are we sure no one else can speak for the Library and be the Arbiter?" She asked.

"I already checked. The only way would be everyone taking a vote of no confidence in the Arbiter and allowing an ex Arbiter to take over." Jake announced as he came into the room.

"It's fine. I'll be alright." Ezekiel sneezed which didn't help his cause. He sounded completely stuffed up.

"Did you sleep at all last night?" Cassandra asked as she draped her arms around his neck and laid her head on his shoulder.

"An hour or two. I was up throwing up for a while though." He tilted his head away from her as he coughed roughly. "Cassandra, really I'm ok. It's just a boring meeting. I'm not going to be running around wrestling crazy magic people like you, Jake, and Baird." He laughed.

"Dobra, calm down! I doubt Lady Sil meant to insult you." Ezekiel croaked as he pounded his gavel. He closed his eyes as he began seeing spots. Everyone was somehow insulted by each other and were screaming at Ezekiel to fix it, which frankly wasn't helping his migraine. He felt his stomach churn and suddenly felt very warm.

"Jenkins, can you make sure they don't kill each other? I suddenly don't feel very good." He whispered to the older man.

"Suddenly? Mr. Jones you're barely upright. Go take care of whatever business you need to, I can distract them for a bit." Jenkins nodded, feeling guilty. He was the one who had to call him in and now the thief was close to tears because he felt so sick. He should be resting not babysitting magical adults that couldn't play nicely together. After about ten minutes the thief returned. His usually steady hands were shaking and he was a pale green. He let out a dry, rough cough that was similar to a dog barking. Jenkins suddenly felt the urge to make the poor young man some soup… and some tea. As he watched him sway slightly, a plan formed.

"I'll be back. I'm sure you can handle them for a little while." He told him as he turned to walk away. Ezekiel reached out for his arm, a look of panic on his face.

"Wait! But what if…" He glanced back at the group before gulping. "Look I'm confident a lot, but this is a bad idea."

"Ezekiel, if I didn't trust you I wouldn't be leaving. You'll be fine." Jenkins gave him a small pat on the back before walking away. He had a call to make.

"I don't know. Okay?! I don't know half of what you're all talking about. I don't even know how to pronounce most of your names." Ezekiel groaned into the table. He was sick of being asked for his input. He was currently facedown on the tabletop, resting his overheated head against the cool wood.

"You're a terrible Arbiter." Dobra chuckled. "Seriously, 'I don't know' doesn't count as a proper answer. What kind of Arbiter can barely stay awake in their own conclave. I'd like to move towards a vote of no confidence."

"You have my vote, mate." Ezekiel gave a weak smile.

"And mine." Came a deep voice from behind. "Is anyone against me taking over? It's not against the rules because I am the previous Arbiter." Flynn smiled lightly as Ezekiel leaned back into his chair in relief.

"Then it's settled, Mr. Carsen is your new Arbiter." Jenkins nodded at the group before pulling Ezekiel out of his chair and dragging him to an infirmary bed.

"Change into something comfortable. Relax. Eat soup. Drink that… what is it called now… Gatorade? Tea is always delicious too. I'll be back with Flynn once we have this Conclave sorted out." Jenkins felt a weak grip on his arm as he turned to go back to the Conclave.

"Wait! It's just… Why would Flynn want to help me? He hates me." Ezekiel mumbled as he leaned into the bed, slightly less coherent than before.

"No one here hates you Mr. Jones. No one here even seriously dislikes you. You asked for help and it's our job as a team to help you." Jenkins frowned at the intense flush upon the thief's face and felt his forehead. "Your temperature is astronomically high, but unfortunately it hasn't broken which means it's likely still rising."

Ezekiel said nothing, but coughed once in response. However, that one cough turned into a five minute coughing fit that left him completely exhausted by the end. He clenched his blanket, shivering, as he gasped for breath. He looked at Jenkins through slitted eyes. If he wasn't mistaken, the caretaker looked worried. He didn't think on it for too long, however, because not long after the world went fuzzy as he fell into a sort of sleep.

"Thank God that's over!" Flynn rolled his eyes as he flopped against his chair. The last of the conclave had filed out the door. "I barely managed to stay awake for that, I can't begin to imagine how he did it."

"He did fall asleep at one point but it lasted about 2 minutes before the others realized and woke him up, telling him that he was a terrible arbiter." Jenkins sighed. "We should go check in on him." As they walked towards the healing room, they heard distressed muttering and quickened their pace. They found Ezekiel twisted up in his sheets, sweat beading on his reddened skin. He was shuddering violently as he mumbled incoherently. They both rushed to the bedside in concern.

"No… Please…" Jenkins and Flynn stopped as he panicked before them. Suddenly he said one word and they knew exactly what they had to do. "Mom."

When Ezekiel woke for the first time, he was alone. The world swirled around him quickly, making him dizzy, even though he was laying down. Spots danced before his eyes as he ebbed in and out of consciousness. Suddenly a light glowed above him and he saw the face of an angel. He sighed in relief when she laid a cold hand upon his overheated forehead, humming softly as she gave him a warm smile. She seemed familiar and made him feel like he was at home.

"Hush. You'll be okay. Just relax."

He was oddly content when the world went back to darkness.

"I knew I should've stayed here!" Eve rushed in from the door. "Thank goodness Jake was trained by Shangri La and Cassandra can work magic with a force ratio. I would've had to stay with them if I didn't think they could handle themselves. What happened?"

"Well he was already quite ill, but he's only gotten worse. His fever is dangerously high and has yet to break. When we last checked in on him, just before we called you, he was calling out for a Mom." Jenkins explained. Eve rose her brow at him at the word 'Mom.'

"We thought you would be the closest thing we had." Flynn told her, finally getting a small smile from him.

"Well I do scold him a lot." Her smile melted into determination quickly. "So what's the plan here?"

"I'm going to see what I can do magically for him. Maybe a nice sedative or a fever reducer." Jenkins thought out loud.

"I can go see if Cassandra and Jake need anything and pick up some stuff at the store." Flynn suggested but it sounded more like a question.

"And I'll take care of our thief. Sounds like a plan." Eve smiled before they all split in three opposite directions.

Eve grabbed a basin of cold water and a stack of washcloths before she entered the infirmary.

"You're a sight for sore eyes, Jones." She chuckled lightly. He truly was, what with his unnatural pallor and the intensity of his shivers. She set the basin down in the corner of the room, humming to herself as she dipped the first cloth in the water leaving both the towel and her hand rather chilly, when she heard movement behind her. She glanced back to find Ezekiel, with open eyes, looking wildly around the room in a sort of panic. She came to his side quickly, still humming, and felt his forehead. He was still burning up and he looked incredibly confused, and worse, a little afraid. She gave a warm smile, hoping that he was able to see and hear her.

"Hush. You'll be okay. Just relax."

His body relaxed as his eyes fluttered shut once more.

The next time Ezekiel woke, he wasn't alone. He was surrounded by his team. They looked at him with a mixture of watered down worry and relief. He felt so much better… almost magically. He was still a little queasy and his head and body were sore, but he didn't feel like he was dying so that was a plus.

"What the hell happened?" He croaked. "I definitely thought I was a goner."

"Well you gave it a good shot." Flynn smiled from the chair in the corner. "But magical sedatives with antibodies and chicken noodle soup is apparently the way to sleep off a bad bout of the flu."

"Apparently… I really thought I was dead though… There was even an angel that reminded me of-" Ezekiel's eyes fell on Eve in the chair next to his bed. She didn't have to say anything, yet he knew. That's how they worked, with unspoken communication that no one could explain.

"You missed a good one today, Jones." Jake informed him. "The aliens really wanted to meet you." Ezekiel sat up with a bolt, his spinning head reminding him that he wasn't yet cured.

"Jake." Cassandra smirked as she swatted at the cowboy. "He's kidding, we didn't meet aliens. We dealt with a very annoyed Goblin King at first and then our old pal Dobra who showed up to complain about you and Flynn's Arbiting skills. Don't think there will be a Conclave again anytime soon."

Ezekiel yawned hardly, eyes suddenly feeling heavy once again.

"Yes that would be the sedative. You'll be feeling quite tired until it knocks out of your system." Jenkins explained but the words buzzed around his head as he fell into a fitful rest once more, only this time he was happy, and all was good. An understatement at best.