A/N: Maybe this isn't the most popular fandom or pairing around here, but I do so love 'em, so here's my Christmas fic for Librarians, for Jake & Cassie :)

You may have noticed this story is labelled as part 12 in a series, and that's because I have been writing The Mistletoe Effect on-and-off for the past 10 years and The Librarians is the 12th fandom to get the treatment!

If you like Buffy, Veronica Mars, That 70s Show, Press Gang, Leverage, OUAT, Necessary Roughness, Alice, Gilmore Girls, White Collar, or X-Men feel free to check out the others in the series.

Disclaimer: All recognisable characters belong to Marvel, Fox, Stan Lee, and other folks who aren't me.

The Mistletoe Effect XII: Jake & Cassie

He never knew he could feel this way about another person.

Jake Stone had always been kind of a loner. It was a conscious decision in a lot of ways. His family and friends, they were all good people, but he never really fit in with them. Too smart, too studious, too gifted. It was only here amongst his fellow Librarians that he had learnt to be a part of something bigger, a different kind of family. He cared for each and every one of these people, and they for him, but Cassandra was different.

In the beginning, the betrayal she displayed to their new team, it put him on edge. Probably stung Jake more than anyone because trust was so rare for him and yet he had given it freely to these particular people, only to have it thrown back in his face. He always liked Cassie, from the very start, but for so long, he just couldn't trust her. Wished he could, but he couldn't.

Now at last, after so long spent in each other's company, so many jobs completed and conversations had, a bridge had been built. They were friends, he and Cassie, but still Jake wasn't happy. He wished he knew how to get past this, one way or the other, but he didn't.

"We should do that again!" Cassie enthused, practically skipping around the annex. "Everyone make a Christmas wish and we'll see if it comes true. It did before," she reminded them happily.

Ezekiel looked thoughtful about what he would wish for, whilst Flynn gazed at Eve and declared there was nothing left that he felt the need to wish about. She got that rare sappy look on her face and something twisted in Jake's heart. He knew what he wanted to wish for, but there was no way he was saying it aloud.

"How 'bout you, Cassie?" he asked her instead. "What's your wish?"

"I don't know," she considered. "I... I guess I wish that I had traditions for Christmas, that I could be like those people who say 'Oh yes, every year we go ice skating in the park' or 'We always have a tree that's six feet tall and a goose that barely fits in the oven'," she said, infectious smile fading terribly. "My family didn't believe that Christmas needed to be marked in special ways like that, so I don't have anything to refer back to. I guess that's not something you can wish for, since it'd mean changing the past... It's silly anyway," she said, waving it away with her hand. "Okay, more decorations!" she declared then, bolting up the stairs to fetch tinsel and bows.

Jake hated knowing that she was probably trying to get away before the tears came. Women should never have a reason to cry, and in his eyes, Cassie was the least deserving of a reason for sadness. She had enough going on already, the tumour in her brain, the uber-intelligence she could barely handle some times. She hadn't been treated right by her family, that they all knew. Jake has some perspective on that kind of situation, and if it was the last thing he did, he was going to make Cassandra's Christmas wish come true somehow.

It was a couple of days later when he put the plan into motion. He had talked to Jenkins about dialling up a very specific location on the back door. It took a couple of attempts before they got just the right spot, and Jake went through to check everything was in place. Seemed he was just in time as he came back into the annex, shivering from the temperature change, to find Cassie coming through from the other room.

"Hey," she said, frowning some. "Where've you been?"

"Some place I wanna share... with you," said Jake quickly before his nerve left him. "You're gonna need a coat. Probably a hat and scarf too, it's pretty cold out there."

Cassandra wasn't sure what to think. The others weren't around, in fact she was pretty sure they had all gone out or at the very least to do their own thing. It occurred to her to ask why only she was invited, but she didn't bother in the end. The last thing she wanted was for Jake to suggest having everyone else along. Being alone with him was always appealing, even if she would never have the nerve to tell him so.

"I'll be right back," she said, rushing off to get wrapped up in some warm clothes.

Jake waited impatiently for her return and smiled big when she appeared in a pink coat with a fur trimmed hood, a scarf, and mittens too.

"Is this okay?" she checked.

"Perfect," Jake told her, gently tugging on her hood to make sure it stayed close around her ears. "You ready for this?"

"I think so," she replied, unsure how to prepare for the unknown.

Jake opened up the back door and ushered her through. Cassie went tentatively through, surprised by the way Jake grabbed her hand to lead her just the moment he was by her side. She didn't mind at all and went willingly with him into the fading light. It wasn't long before she saw where they were and why, gasping with delight at the sight. Her free hand covered her mouth and tears came to her eyes unbidden.

"Oh my... Jake, this is... It's beautiful!" she told him.

"Welcome to Oklahoma, Cassie," he said, smiling when she looked so surprised. "I actually grew up within a mile of this place," he explained, gesturing to the frozen lake before them. "My family used to come here every winter, especially around Christmas time. We'd skate all over the lake, fall on our asses and laugh about it until our sides hurt. Mom would bring apple cider and... and it didn't matter that we were frozen solid by the cold, we didn't feel a thing."

Cassandra watched him replaying the memories in his mind and couldn't decide whether she wanted to smile or cry some more. It was all so beautiful, more so because he chose to share it with her. At the same time, it was painful, because it was over. Those memories were way back in a past that Jake was never getting back, and for that she was sorry. Her hand slipped back into his and she squeezed his fingers.

"Jake..."

"It's fine," he told her, just knowing she was going to apologise or feel sorry for him, which right now he couldn't take. "Thing is, that was a tradition I had in my family. You never had that, so I wanted to share this with you."

"Thank you," said Cassandra softly, the words seemingly coming from the very heart of her, the truth of them shining from her eyes. "It's a shame we don't have any skates."

Jake grinned wide at that, dropping her hand and going over to the nearest tree. A moment later he returned with two pairs of skates dangling from his hands. Cassie laughed, hardly able to believe it, but she certainly wasn't wasting a chance like this.

She was as graceful as he expected, able to figure out the math so she could stay up on the blades like a pro within a minute. Cassie and Jake skated all over the lake, sometimes together and sometimes apart. She spun like a top and glided like a swan, but more importantly, she smiled and laughed more in that hour than Jake had ever seen. That was what mattered.

Almost crashing into each other then, Jake took a hold of Cassie and pulled her to a stop. She was shaking all over with cold, and he wasn't surprised. The sun had sunk so low, it was all but dark, and Jake knew it was time to go.

"C'mon," he said, pulling Cassie over to the edge. "Time we were getting back."

"I guess so," she agreed, nodding her head.

As they stepped up off the ice onto the grass, Cassie stumbled. She ploughed right into Jake, and though he kept them both upright, it was a close run thing. They ended up leaning against a big old tree together, and Cassie was laughing like a crazy person over their near miss. She tipped her head back to the wide open sky, her breath making clouds of steam above their heads. Then just as quickly as it had started, her laughter stopped.

"Was this a part of the plan?" she asked, looking seriously at Jake then.

He shook his head, baffled by her sudden question and lack of humour. His hands were at her arms from their almost-fall and he removed them fast, concerned that she was taking it all the wrong way. She had been fine out on the ice when their arms were around each other, so he doubted that was it. His confusion must have shown on his face because Cassandra soon explained.

"Phoradendron leucarpum," she said, pointing above their heads.

Jake glanced up in amongst the branches and slowly smiled. "Mistletoe."

"So, was it? A part of the plan?" she checked as his gaze returned to her own.

It wasn't that Jake didn't want to be honest with her, but he really didn't know the answer to the question. He opened his mouth to say something, anything, but for a few seconds at least, no words came out.

"I don't know," he admitted eventually. "Maybe, on some level."

He had never been so unsure when it came to women before, but then Cassie was like no other woman he had ever met. With anybody else, he would have made his move by now, but not with her. Jake Stone wasn't the kind to admit to fear, but messing up with Cassie scared the hell out of him. Right now she was smiling, that had to be a good sign, and when she leaned in closer, he started to hope maybe he wasn't the only one feeling this way.

Their lips met in a sweet kiss, soft and tentative at first, but it soon became clear that wasn't enough. Cassandra wasn't pulling away. Her arms were around Jake's shoulders, keeping him close, and his hands slipped out of his pockets to take a hold of her waist and pull her to him. They were lost in the moment for a while, just enjoying the warmth and closeness of it all. When Cassandra finally pulled away a little, she didn't go far, her forehead practically touching Jake's own still.

"Hmm, this a tradition I'd like to keep up," she said happily.

"Yeah, I could go along with that," he agreed, raising one hand to tuck her hair back inside her hood.

"Merry Christmas, Jacob," she said then. "And thank you for making my wish come true."

"You're welcome, Cassie," Jake told her, smiling still. "Merry Christmas," he echoed, sealing it all with one more kiss.

He never knew he could feel this way about another person, and he certainly never thought to be so lucky as to have her feel the same way about him too.

The End