Title: The Concussed Librarian and The Wayward Cassandra
Author: Snow'sLuckyCat (that's me...)
Fandom: The Librarians, 2014
Season: During Season 3, though it DOES go a bit AU.
Characters: Flynn, Eve, Jake, Ezekiel, Apep, & Cassandra
POVs: Flynn & Eve share the duties. (Duel 1st person.)
Summary: What if General Rockwell launched a surprise attack on the Library? Did someone make the ultimate sacrifice in order to save it? Can the others weather the grave loss? Or will they mount a last-ditch rescue that could prove to be even more disastrous?
Disclaimer: I no own. You no sue. This show belongs to TNT, Dean Devlin, and the amazing cast and crew, who are all totally awesome at their jobs. I'm just taking the characters out for a little spin and some fresh air, that's all... ;)
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A swirl of indistinct white noise makes its way to my ears. It sounds like the buzzing of bees or the snow you get when you accidentally switch to an out-of-service tv channel.
I try to sit up. But, the vortex of voices turns into a chorus of hands, many hands, that promptly start pressing down on my shoulders and arms. As if to keep me from moving. As if to keep me still.
"Wha...?"
"Flynn...Flynn, can you hear me?"
One of the voices finally coalesces into something more discernible, more familiar.
"Nicole?"
"Who's that?" a deeper voice asks. I can tell it's not asking me though. Something about the incredulous tone rings too wrong in my ears to be a direct question to me.
"I don't know. I think that knock to the head must be worse than we first thought."
So, THAT'S why I was feeling off. Had I fallen from somewhere? Or had I been in some sort of fight?
I try to recall what I'd been doing before. Brief flashes of running. Of jumping. Of tackling someone to the ground. Of a great pain suddenly exploding in my head. And then nothing but darkness.
"If he hadn't tackled me to the ground, that blow might've killed me." The lighter voice again. Not Nicole though. Nicole died years ago. No, this was someone else. Someone more recent. Someone with an unusual name. Someone named after a holiday. Easter? Christmas? Eve?
"Eve?"
"Looks like he's back." The gruff voice again. Jake?
"Jake..."
The blanks of names are finally filling up properly, but I feel the crest of a migraine building as well.
"Where..."
"The Library."
"We made it back then? That's gr..."
"Not so fast, mate. Not everyone made it back." Ezekiel?
Who's missing? Eve. Jake. Ezekiel. They're all here. Surrounding me. Guarding me. Protecting me.
Then, a flash of long red hair and a sensation of hugging envelopes me. And with startling clarity, I know who it is that is no longer with us. Just for now or forever though? That's the fraught conundrum that colors my next question. "Where's Cassandra?"
My vision is finally clearing up. Just in time for me to see the telling tear stains on everyone else's faces. Even Jacob's. Each of them slowly shakes their heads.
"She's dead, isn't she?"
Eve nods. "While you were busy saving me from a massive headache, she was busy saving Jake from a bullet. One of General Rockwell's DOSA guys was waving a gun at him, threatening to shoot. She tackled the man from behind, but the gun spun out of his hands, landed in the grass, and went off. She bled out in seconds. There was nothing we could do."
"Wait. What about her magic?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, you all told me she'd been experimenting with that kind of stuff. A bit here, a bit there."
"Yeah, but..."
"We need to go back. We need to go back right now. Help me up."
I try to pull myself up, but my equilibrium is still all shot to hell. And everything's still spinning. So, I close my eyes, blinking owlishly. Hoping to regain my faculties as fast as possible.
My body isn't cooperating though.
"But, Rockwell..." Eve starts.
I don't let her finish.
"Has probably cleared out by now. She doesn't strike me as the burying bodies type. Besides, we never leave a man behind."
"That's a military motto, Flynn, not a Librarian one."
"Well, I think it's hightime that it becomes our motto too. I've lost too many people doing things the old-fashioned, learn-as-you-go, die-as-you-fight kind of way. Way past time for a new credo!"
I shake my hand at her. She gets the reason behind the shake, sighs, and takes me by the wrist. "You sure about this?"
"1000%."
Bracing herself up against the wall, she hauls me upwards. Even with her support, I stagger forward a step or three like a guy who's had too many Tequila shots.
"Whoa there," Eve says, half-joking.
"I'm good. Just a little...bell-rung," I explain, gesturing at my offending head with my free hand. Otherwise known as the one that's not currently clutching at Eve's shoulder as if it's the only thing holding me up. Which it very well might be.
"I think you mean 'dizzy' there, mate." Ezekiel, ever the translator, gives me a look of mild concern, masked as a disapproving look of derisive skepticism.
"You're not good, Flynn. You can't even stand up straight. I bet I could push you over with just two fingers."
My stubborn streak counters Jake's true facts. "They'd better be fingers like Bruce Lee exhibited in his one-inch punch. Otherwise, you're wasting your time, and it's time that Cassandra doesn't have. We need to go now if this is gonna work."
"If what is gonna work?"
"This."
Carefully, I pull the last emerald green vial of Bathsheba's Oil of Healing from my inner vest pocket. The rest had recently gone mysteriously missing. Probably because of Rockwell's vendetta against our group. Though I bet she doesn't even know what it can do. It's an ancient potion that can bring you back from the brink of death, or even away from the eternal embrace of Death itself.
"Hey! I thought Rockwell took everything. She gloated about that even after we got her and those DOSA guys forcibly expelled. Sometime right before our daring, disastrous semi-escape."
"Anything she could see and that wasn't nailed down, yes. But things like this, things hidden in plain sight? Or things too big to move, like Nessie and her newest little one or Noah's Ark? Not so much."
"Even on the wrong end of a raid and an ambush and thoroughly concussed, you still never cease to amaze me, Flynn Carsen."
"The feeling's mutual, Eve."
Our lips meet in the next instant. But, the moment abruptly ends when Jenkins enters the room from his lab and Eve hurriedly pulls away from me.
"You're here. Good. Jenkins, we need a door to where we before. We need to find Cassandra. She got...left behind," she explains to the newest arrival.
"Certainly, Colonel. As you wish."
A moment or three later, the Back Door gives off its familiar telltale hum as it comes to life before us.
Eve turns to me one final time. "Okay. You sure about this, Flynn? Red knew what she was getting into when she signed up for this three years ago. Hell, we all did..."
"I'm not leaving her body back there, Eve. She deserves better than that. And if she IS alive, then there's no way in Hades I'm going to let Rockwell or her men hurt her anymore either."
"I'm with ya." Jake, steeling himself for the possibility of another pitched battle.
"I've grown attached to Math Girl too. I'm coming with." Ezekiel, volunteering his services as well.
And just like that, all four of us set off back through the glowing Door, Jenkins's call of "good luck" ringing in our ears.
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Unsteadily, we stumble through the Door and back into the forest from which we'd sought temporary refuge. Jenkins's worried visage disappears as the portal closes again and the magic link is broken. The door to the secluded cabin that we'd jumped to again becomes solid wood.
I immediately turn to look for Flynn. He'd been the first one through the Door. Surprisingly, or maybe not so much, he hadn't waited for the rest of us. He's gone on ahead, using his memory to guide him to the clearing. Where sacrifices had been made and where lives had been lost. But maybe, just maybe, not for good.
I follow the trail of two dozen or more broken tree limbs or disturbed bushes. Either Flynn is clumsier then I thought. Or he's purposely leaving a trail for us to follow. Considering his concussion, I'm going to say it's the former. At least that's only temporary.
"Flynn!"
"Don't shout."
The unusual whisper came from just over my right shoulder. My body reacted before my brain did. Sweeping my elbow back, I'm rewarded with a pained gasp of surprise, as I solidly connect with the accompanying person's solar plexus.
I turn around, only to see a red-faced Flynn collapse in on himself behind me.
"What the hell?! Don't sneak up on me that. I could've brained you!" I whisper loudly, even now already trying to heed his advice. "Did you find anything up ahead?"
Thoroughly chastised, he winces as he tries to breathe through his obviously renewed physical discomfort. "A ton of...blood. But, also, no Cass...andra."
"Is there any sign of Rockwell or her men?"
"No, but I DID find a blood trail. Looks like someone dragged Cassandra off."
"Or something." Jake pipes up, intently studying the ground beneath us. "Guys, there are a lot of animal tracks all around here. But they're in odd patterns. Almost as if they were circling something."
"We'd better hurry then. I just hope we're not too late."
For the second time in twenty minutes, I haul Flynn up from an unscheduled tumble. This time though, his breath is coming out in shallow gasps, as if air is not getting to his lungs properly.
"Jus'...wait...a...sec...ond."
Slowly, he straightens up, only to waver, staggering away like he had earlier. And again, I catch him before he completely goes down.
"Little dizzy?" I ask.
"I dunno what's wrong with me," he whispers back.
"Your body needs to rest, Flynn. You should listen to it. We can find Cassie when you're feeling better."
"Well, I'm currently not listening to it, Eve. Besides, Cassandra doesn't have time for me to rest right now. I'll rest only after we've found her."
He has his stubborn voice on. The one that won't listen to reason, logic, or sense. The lalala-I-can't hear-you-over-the-sound-of-my-own-voice voice. I HATE that voice. Because it means that, whenever he crashes, it's going to be him going down and out for a count of days, not minutes or hours.
"Dammit, Flynn!"
"Eve. I've got this. Trust me." His reassurances are never quite enough for me these days.
"Finish your little spat later, guys. I think I hear someone up ahead," Ezekiel sounds the alarm.
"Quick! Everybody, hide!" I hiss, dragging a still-dazed Flynn with me deeper into the underbrush.
Ezekiel scrambles back behind a nearby tree with a slight thud. Jake jumps into a nearby bush with a violent rustle.
From our new vantage points, we all get a good look at the new arrival. All except Flynn. Who's no longer squatting, but outright sitting now. And whose head is down and listlessly lolling against my shoulder. Had he passed out? Or was he just conserving his energy?
I could only pay attention to the new threat or to Flynn. My attention couldn't be divided. So, I mentally pushed the wellbeing of my boyfriend temporarily to the back-burner of my brain and tensed up, subconsciously readying myself to spring into action.
I needn't have bothered.
A weak, yet instantly familiar, female voice called out towards Ezekiel's hiding place. "Ezekiel? What are YOU doing here?"
Off Ezekiel's look of disbelief and shock, Jake jumps back out of the bush and rushes up to the wholly corporeal specter that we thought we'd lost forever.
"Oh my god. Cassandra...Cassie... Cass? You're alive!? Not that I'm not insanely happy about that...but, we saw you get shot. We thought you were dead."
"Jake? You're here too? Why'd you both come back, if you thought I was dead?"
"We're ALL back. We weren't going to just leave you here, Red," I volunteer, finally revealing my position amongst the taller weeds. "Besides, Flynn insisted we come. Not that we really needed his extra nudge or anything. But, his resolve pushed our plan over the edge."
"Wow. I'm worth that much to you guys?" she squeaks, genuinely shocked.
Even after all this time, and all the adventures we'd shared together, Cassandra Cillian is still somehow convinced that she's our weak link, that she's not worthy of everyone else's friendship.
"I've told you before, Red. You're an invaluable part of this team. And, beyond that, you're also a great friend."
Cassie ducks her head sheepishly at my compliment, and quickly changes the subject. "Where's Mr. Carsen? Did he come back too?"
Mr. Carsen? Wait a minute, what's really going on here?
Suspicion immediately worms its way into my brain. Ignites my other senses. Something's not right.
"You're not Cassandra, Apep. Get. Out. Of. Her. NOW." Flynn's voice is low, lower than I've ever heard it, and dangerous.
He's come away from the human-high weeds and is currently half-standing, half-leaning up against a tree. I notice the half-lean; I just hope Apep doesn't.
"Strong words for such a weak man. Your injuries betray you, Librarian. You will not last much longer. And then I shall take my full revenge." Gone is the trickery. In its place, a slightly accented baritone voice booms through the air.
Ezekiel and Jake beat a hasty retreat from the Not-Quite-Cassandra Cassandra to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with me and Flynn.
"Flynn, what are we going to do? It's like Apep is using her as a life-sized meat puppet."
"Eww. I don't like the sound of that. Even if that description IS fairly accurate... and rather disgusting... That reminds of the time that I..."
"Flynn! Plan now. Reminisce later."
"No need to get snappy, Eve. I think all we need to do is force Apep out of Cassandra."
"But how?"
"A wallop to the head should do it. After all, he can't control what's voiceless and unconscious."
"That's great, guys. Just great. But, how are we supposed to knock Cassie out without getting possessed by Apep ourselves?" Ezekiel addresses the elephant in the room.
Apep-as-Cassandra breaks into the conversation with a hearty peal of sinister laughter.
"End of the line, Librarians. I think I'll take the ringleader first."
The possessed Cassandra rushes at the four of us like a banshee. Screeching loudly.
Ezekiel and Jake cover their ears, trying to stop their eardrums from bursting. Five seconds later, she's upon us. Casting them away like they weigh nothing at all. They land, hard, on their backs and are silent and still.
Then, she's on me, scrabbling, trying to get her hands around my neck. I try to do the same to her. Then, vaguely, I notice Flynn's no longer beside me. Had he finally fallen? Apep had been taunting him. Was the taunt just a boast? Or was he really dying?
Even after all my scrambling and jerking, Apep's vice-like grip remains. Blackness encroaches upon my eyesight.
Blurry images inform me. My boyfriend has somehow managed to sneak around, and he's now standing behind Cassandra and holding something over her head. Something that looks heavy.
There's a distant thud. Then, a thump, then another more violent thump. Then, the air around us whips up an odd gust of hot air that incessantly tickles my nose, but doesn't enter it. Then, I'm falling too. And the fuzzy images fade to gray, then black.
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My girlfriend is slowly getting the life choked out of her, by Apep, and I'm rummaging through some nearby bushes. Typical story of my life.
My head and chest are killing me. Not literally, but it sure feels that way. Just as I'm about to give up on getting anything even remotely usable, I spy a heavy broken limb. Heavy enough to knock Cassandra out and Apep out of her. But not heavy enough to kill her outright. At least, I hope not.
As I heft the limb above my head, an awkward feat for me during the best of times, I try to focus enough to hit my target in just the exact moment, right before death embraces Eve completely, but after she's passed out. I see her sky blue eyes land blearily and briefly on my form, before her eyelids droop shut. Showtime!
Distracted with the prospect of a major victory well within his grasp, Apep doesn't notice me until it's far too late and I'm already swinging the branch down.
WHACK!
Physical body and invasive spirit forcibly separate, as a wail of villainous despair starts, only to abruptly fade. "Noooooo..." Cassandra's body drops like a stone, with a telltale black smoke rising into the air above her.
In the next instant, my fingers grow numb and I lose my grip on the branch. Everything's spinning and then I'm down on the ground, a second louder "Noooooo!" ringing in my ears.
I see the black mist float up and away from our huddled group. Back to wherever his sarcophagus currently resides. Good riddance.
Then, a different kind of blackness descends upon me.
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"Flynn? Flynn? Come on. Wake up. Please wake up." Cassandra's worried voice.
"Cass...andra?"
"Thank goodness. Are you all right?"
"Yeah, I guess so. I've got a bit of a headache."
"So do I. But, at least Apep is gone. He really is gone, right?"
"Yeah," I answer. "But, he'll be back. Not today though."
Cassandra nods her approval and then asks, "Can you sit up?"
Muscles protest, but with her help, in the next few seconds, I find myself sitting against the trunk of a tree that'd been behind me, gathering my strength before finally looking around.
Heaps of fabric are all around. Eve lies a few feet away, clad in black. Ezekiel, clad in dark green and denim, a few feet farther away. And Jake, clad in tan and khaki, just beyond him.
"Ooooo. Did someone get the number of the truck that plowed into me?" Eve is waking up. Good.
"I hope it wasn't the same one that put me down. Because that one was seriously not cool." Ezekiel, irritated but also cognizant.
"Quit your gripin' there, Zeke. Coulda been a lot worse." Jake, mildly annoyed but also alive.
"Shhh, you two. Where's Flynn?"
"Over here, Eve. The plan worked. Cass is fine. Apep has retreated. So, please, don't yell or attack anyone."
"How can you be so sure about that?"
Cass looks equal parts petrified and disgusted at that possibility.
"Because the black smoke left her and retreated right after I conked her on the head. I saw that right before I blacked out again. We were all unconscious at the same time, so Apep had no body to invade. Hence, his retreat. He needs to recharge, I assume. Bodysnatching is hard work."
"Good enough for me. Welcome back, Red."
"Yeah, sorry about earlier. I...um...wasn't myself."
"Totally understand. Just remind me to never piss you off in the future, okay? Because my throat is still sore."
Cassandra nods and continues to look sheepish, until Jake pointedly pipes up about what'd brought us back here in the first place.
"But, weren't you shot, Cass?" He is up and standing, pointing at her bloodied hands, still wary.
"Yes and no. I was shot, but it wasn't nearly as bad as it looked. Just a graze. See?" Cassandra carefully moves her hands away from the wound, revealing just a shallow streak of furrowed skin and a slow ooze of blood along her stomach. "Apep must've augmented reality, made it appear to be a fatal situation, so that you would have to leave me behind. I don't think he really thought that you'd come back for me. Especially so soon. It caught him off-guard. He hadn't fully integrated his mind with my memories."
Eve quickly puts two and two together from there. "Ah-ha. So, that's why she called you Mr. Carsen, Flynn."
"And that's how I knew it wasn't really all her. Until these last few minutes, that is," I finish explaining.
Unexpectedly, Cass drops back down and surges forward, hugging me like I'm a teddy bear at Christmas.
"Now, THAT is definitely an all-Cassie move," Ezekiel exclaims, grinning from ear-to-ear.
The other two Librarians and our Guardian approach us, each grinning with relief.
Trouble averted, I'm relieved as well. Tired, exhausted even, but still thoroughly relieved. I'm not as young as I used to be. And this little side mission has sapped even my energy reserves down to next to nothing. Unaware of anything amiss, Cassandra quickly jumps back up and crushes the others in giggly hugs and happy high fives.
Eve tosses a concerned look my way, right before being enveloped by Cassandra for the second time.
"I'm fine," I mouth in her general direction, then close my eyes against the way-too-bright sunlight currently streaming down through the canopy of trees above us.
I don't even remember slumping back up against the tree I had been leaning against and falling asleep.
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I wake up to voices and hands surrounding me on all sides. An eerie sense of déjà vu pervades the scene. Only, it can't actually be that phenomena for real, because I vaguely feel that there are two more pairs of hands are on me than the last time, holding onto me. Jenkins? Cassandra?
"Wha...? What's goin' on?" My voice is again groggy, as I repeat the same words I'd asked earlier.
"We're just getting you settled." Eve's voice, quiet.
"Is Cassandra okay?" I find myself asking, tension coloring my voice black with despair.
Her next words put me at ease, and the tension leaks away. "Yeah. We got her back. Jenkins and I are gonna dress her wound after we get you settled here. Try to get some rest, Flynn. You took a rather nasty knock to the head today. I'll be back in two hours to see how you're doing and every two hours after that."
"Concussion?" I guess.
Eve nods. "At least it's not a skull fracture though, which Jenkins and I were worried about you being on the receiving end of, until you woke up on your own just now."
"What a relief," I mutter mutely.
"Get some rest, Flynn." Jake, satisfied. "Good job, man."
"Thanks for coming after me, Flynn. I hope you feel better soon." Cassandra, thankful, and maybe a tad bit guilty. (NOT that she should feel that way at all.)
"Yep. 'Cuz the sooner you feel good, the sooner we can go on more death-defying adventures, mate! So, hurry up and feel better already." Ezekiel, cheeky.
"Get some rest, Mr. Carsen. You've well earned it today." Jenkins, about as cheerful as he ever gets.
I close my eyes and am gone again before I can even count to ten, but I know I will always be in good hands, with the other Librarians and our illustrious Guardian and Caretaker hanging around.
So, go ahead and bring it on Apep. 'Cuz the next time we meet, we'll bring you down for good. Of that, I'm quite sure.
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The End
Good? Bad? Silly? Let me know your thoughts, as reviews are ALWAYS appreciated. :)
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