One of my reviewers, StruckkByColfer once mentioned a craving for Jake punching Cassandra's father. Well my fine reviewer, wish granted.
On a side note, I don't think there are any concrete details about Cassandra's parents so most here is just imagined up for this.
Enjoy.
Ezekiel Jones would never admit it, but he never got used to seeing Cassandra suffer one of her episodes. It was different when she would be going through math, equations, and a bunch of stuff he never had a chance of understanding. Those weren't so bad, she at least spoke somewhat English when that happened but then there was the other kind.
The spells when she would just straight up pass out or go into a seizure. Ezekiel would never, ever, admit it with a gun to his head just how scared the sight made him.
Which was the source of their current situation.
The redhead suffered a seizure and passed out while they were at the Annex. Such a thing wasn't exactly a common occurrence but when it did happen, she would usually be fine after a short while. They would always try to make her as comfortable as possible until she woke up.
At least that was what normally happened, of course this time had to be different.
Instead of passing out where Stone could catch her, or into a seat, or just anywhere where her landing could be cushioned, she instead hit her head on the main table.
Hard.
He knew Baird was a good driver, but bloody hell! That woman busted some moves behind the wheel that he wasn't sure he wanted to see in person ever again. The blonde drove like there were literal dragons behind her.
Then there was Stone, never before had Ezekiel wanted so badly to grab two people and shove them into a room with the words "work it out!".
Him and Cassandra were starting to grate on the thief's nerves. All the side-ways glances, the prolonged touching, the way they always found a way to be close by each other. It would be a little adorable, even to him, if it hadn't been dragging on for god knows how long.
So naturally Stone took Cassandra's condition the absolute hardest. His stoic silence would have fooled most people.
Ezekiel Jones wasn't most people.
The young thief had been around Stone long enough to figure out most of the other man's ticks and tells. Such as the way his eyes never left the floor except to throw a glance at Cassandra's door every once in a while, or the tapping of his foot.
No, Ezekiel Jones would not be duped.
Jacob Stone was a nervous wreck and doing his absolute hardest to hold it together.
Ezekiel looked at the door himself for a moment. Baird was in there with the redhead now. They had gotten her checked out and thankfully there was not much wrong save perhaps a small concussion. Any moment now she would be waking back up.
The doctors had to threaten to throw them out before the Librarians would agree only one of them could be in the hospital room at a time.
Ezekiel assumed Stone would have volunteered to be the one but to his surprise the cowboy did nothing. The thief came this close to just shoving the man in there.
So now both Ezekiel and Stone were seated in chairs outside the room waiting for their favorite redhead to wake back up. Baird at least agreed to let them know the moment she was.
The place was making Ezekiel sick to his stomach. Most of the time, being in a hospital meant you were there visiting someone who was stuck there. Or you were said person stuck there. Either way, he couldn't wait until they could leave.
That of course was the moment fate had to take the suck level of their situation up to eleven.
It began with a commotion at the end of the hall. Ezekiel had been tuning most of it out until it got much closer. Then he heard the words.
"Where is she? Where's my little girl Cassandra?"
Now that had the thief's attention.
Ezekiel's gaze snapped up just in time to catch the approach of the newcomers. His thief brain first caught the outer details, first it was a man and woman. Both were finely dress but not extravagantly so, enough to show they were upper middle class but not exactly rich. The man in a cheap suit, the woman in a blouse and knee length skirt. Very little jewelry on her either.
His eyes quickly caught the more alarming details. The most obvious was the red hair on the woman, curled in the exact way Cassandra's was. Her face structure was strikingly similar to their own redhead's. The eyes on the woman were different but the man had the same ones as Cassandra.
The words the man had been speaking a moment ago sent up warning bells in Ezekiel's mind.
Daughter...
Ezekiel's eyes went wider than saucers. Cassandra's parents!
The thief let loose a string of expletives beneath his breath that would have made a sailor blush. How on earth were they here?! The hospital must have called them and by pure chance, they were in the area.
Risking a look at Stone only confirmed that the cowboy would not be much help. The man was completely zoned out and not listening.
Cassandra's father getting closer all the while.
Okay, intervention time.
"Good afternoon sir! How can I help you?" Ezekiel grinned with the cheesiest fake cheer he could muster. As he spoke he moved in front of the man directly between him and the door.
The thief put hand on the wall for good measure. The man was bigger than he was, if he wanted, Ezekiel was not sure he could physically stop him from pushing past. Stalling was the current plan but he needed a solution fast.
"You can help me by getting out of the way kid. I'm here to see my daughter." The man spoke as he tried to step past Ezekiel but the thief stepped directly in his way.
It was a gamble of course. To see if the man was willing to actually shove him aside. For now though, it seemed he wasn't. The thief smiled inwardly, Ezekiel one evil dad zero.
"Really? I didn't think Cassandra had a dad. Last I checked, the last parents she had threw her aside when she couldn't measure up to their dreams." Ezekiel was surprised with the venom in his own voice.
If Ezekiel would have been punched at that very moment, the look the father's face would have made it all worthwhile. A combination of fury and incredulity.
"And who are you supposed to be? Her boyfriend?" The man scoffed as he looked down his nose at Ezekiel. Now that the thief was used to.
During the whole exchange so far, the mom was dead quiet. She looked like being torn between supporting her husband or saying nothing. Either way, she wasn't going to be much help.
Before he could stop himself, Ezekiel was laughing. "Me? Her boyfriend? Mate, hell will freeze over before that happens." Cassandra was like his sister, the very idea of her and him together... nope. She was Stone's, at least she would be once the two love-sick idiots got their act together.
The father made a move for the door again, this time very willing to shove Ezekiel out of the way. The thief knew there was no way he could stop him but that wasn't going to stop him from trying.
"Put one hand on that door and you'll be pickin' your teeth off the floor."
The voice behind Ezekiel was so icy cold that it made the hairs on the thief's neck stand up. He made no attempt to hide it when his lips split into a grin.
The cavalry had arrived.
Ezekiel sidestepped and in an instant, he was replaced with a certain cowboy. The full fury and rage on his face was so intense that even Ezekiel had to take an extra step back.
Here was an enemy that could not be physically moved. Hell, at this moment, Ezekiel was not sure if god himself could budged Jacob Stone.
"Who are you to make such threats to me?" The father all but snarled as he glared at Jake.
"Jacob Stone, sir." Jake's voice was so venomous it reminded Ezekiel of a king cobra. The thief would have preferred to wrestle the snake instead of being on the receiving end of his friend's death glare.
Ezekiel could feel the tension in the air as the two men had the mother of all stare downs. Something was about to happen, but what he had no idea.
"Nice meeting you, now move. I'm here to see my..." The father never got to finish his sentence because he did quite possibly the most stupid thing he could've done.
He put his hand on the door.
Ezekiel liked to think he had fast reflexes, sharp instincts, all honed by his career as a master thief. But not even he saw it coming or caught the movement fast enough.
The hand was on the door for a fraction of a second before Jake's fist slammed into the father's jaw with the force of a runaway freight train.
The mother gasped as the father stumbled back but managed to stay on his feet. A massive bruise already forming on his jaw. No busted out teeth though, Stone was slipping.
Ezekiel was just about to cheer for Stone when the door to Cassandra's room opened. Four pairs of eyes instantly shot into its direction.
"What the hell is going on out here?" Baird scowled.
"This brute struck me!" The father groaned out as he clutched his jaw in his hand.
Baird looked him over for a moment before turning back to face Stone. "What, no bloody nose? He's still conscious and on his feet? I thought I taught you to hit harder than that Stone." The former NATO colonel scolded the cowboy.
Before Stone could respond she continued, saying the words they had been waiting for. "Cassandra's awake and wants to see you Stone."
Baird was only halfway through speaking before Stone was rushing into the room letting Baird step out and shut the door behind her.
"Don't let that animal near my little girl!" Great, that father wasn't done apparently.
If angry Jacob Stone was the fury of a hurricane, angry Colonel Baird was a hurricane, tsunami, and earthquake all rolled up into one.
"And you!" Baird growled as she jabbed a finger into the father's chest, making him take an immediate step back. Ezekiel could have sworn the blonde's glare was able to melt steel.
Ezekiel stopped listening as soon as he took one look through the glass of the door's window. What he saw made him grin even wider.
Stone was seated beside Cassandra's bed, his head resting on her blanket covered stomach facing away from the door. The redhead was giggling at something as her fingers slowly ran through Stone's hair.
Ezekiel would never admit, even under the most intense duress, just how adorable the pair looked.
Review so I know what you think.
Also, I am looking for new story ideas and prompts so if anyone has something, send me a message.
