Trust Me...
A/N: I don't know how you guys do it! I like to think that some of my original ideas are good, but the ideas that you guys send me are truly genius. This is a very simple trope that I've seen in a lot of T.V. shows but I never would have thought to write a fic about it. Without further adieu, 'Trust Me…'
Disclaimer: I own nothing. If I did, I'd be richer and all of these things would be canon.
Ezekiel liked to believe that he was a pretty good judge of character. He spent most of his life deciding who was worth stealing from and who wasn't. It took a lot for him to begin trusting someone, but more importantly once he deemed someone untrustworthy, they would never be trusted. Now, Cassandra had betrayed them, but he didn't think her untrustworthy. No, he thought of her as smart. Thought. As in past tense. Now? Not so much. He rolled his eyes as he heard her giggle from the hallway, knowing what to expect.
"So then I said to the guy- Oh hey Ezekiel! I didn't think you'd be here." The man Cassandra had her arm linked to smiled his oh so perfect smile at the Australian. "I figured you would be out on the town, stealing people's wallets or something." Cassandra laughed again lightly. The man, August, was a computer engineer they had met during the mission. He was incredibly bright and oddly enough, very similar to each of the librarians. He was well versed in art and science which made him popular with Cassandra and Jake, but he also had talent when working with technology. He had been so good with computers, in fact, that he had managed to hack into Ezekiel's hardware. Baird liked him because he was well-built and could handle himself in a fight. Everyone seemed to love the guy. Except Ezekiel. From the moment he had met him, something was off. Maybe it was how his dark brown hair fell perfectly into order while still looking handsomely disheveled. Or maybe it was how his dark brown eyes seemed to scan everyone in the room.
"Nope. I'm still here." Ezekiel said tightly. He was currently rewiring an old software system for the security of the Annex. He had been distracted by the redhead and her new favorite computer hacker and so he crossed two opposite wires, causing them to shock him. He dropped them with a surprised yelp.
"Oh here. Let me help. This stuff can be hard to understand when you first start." August went to take the wires into his own hands when Ezekiel pulled away from him.
"I know. I've been doing this since I was sixteen." Ezekiel told him shortly. Cassandra happened to catch the annoyance in his tone.
"Oh… so that's like what four years?" She laughed which caused Ezekiel to squint at her.
"That's awesome! Keep with it and you'll be a master in no time. I've been doing this since I was twelve. That's twelve years. You tend to pick up things when you've done it for long enough. Just keep practicing and you'll be a natural." Ezekiel's fake smile didn't even reach his eyes.
"Yeah you're right. I'll just keep practicing." He told him sarcastically.
"That's the spirit champ!" August ignored the sarcasm as he turned to Cassandra. "I must go, but it was lovely to spend the evening with you. I'm going to the bar with Jake, so if you need me, you have my number." He winked at Cassandra as he walked away, leaving Cassandra blushing and Ezekiel nearly throwing up in his mouth. Cassandra spun to him as soon as she noticed that August was gone.
"What is wrong with you?" She asked angrily while slapping his shoulder.
"Ow! What the hell?" He rubbed his wounded shoulder. She glared at him, waiting for an answer. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Why are you being such a prick to August. He's trying to be nice and give you helpful hints but you're just being a jerk about it." She responded with fury.
"Wow, prick and jerk in the same sentence. How would Mr. Twelve Years of Computer science feel about that sort of language?" He smirked, knowing that he would get a reaction. The one he got was slightly unexpected. He expected to be punched in the arm again but was shocked by the hug from behind.
"I get it now Ezekiel. You're jealous. It's alright, you'll always be my favorite little thief." He shrugged her arms off of his shoulders.
"God he has rubbed off on you. You're becoming just as ignorant and patronizing as him. Do me a favor and leave me alone." He said angrily as he walked away, leaving her in disbelief.
She pulled out her phone and dialed the number. "Hey August? Where are you and Jake at? I think we need to talk." Cassandra, August, and Jake all talked before heading home for the night.
The next day, Ezekiel found himself alone in Jenkin's laboratory when the door opened suddenly to reveal August and Jake.
"Hey. Can we chat?" August asked. Ezekiel let out a puff of air before turning to face him.
"Actually, Jake, if you don't mind, can we talk alone." Jake's smile fell as he turned away from the door. "Hey, are we still on for that trip to the Met later?"
"Of course." Jake smiled like a kid in a candy store as he left the room.
"So Cassandra brought it to my attention that you were clearly out of your element. I mean, not to be rude, but let's cut the bullshit. You know next to nothing about technology compared to me." August's eyes glowed slightly as Ezekiel nodded his head in agreement. "And to be honest, I see a lot of myself in you. I, for one, think that you could be great, but unfortunately the others disagree. They think that you're rather useless. I tried to explain to them that you have your uses, but they wouldn't listen. They think that it'd be best if I took over for you and you just left." Ezekiel felt his heart drop. He didn't know what it was about him, but August was very convincing. He found himself standing up and walking by the smirking August. He continued to walk, all the way to the back door. Cassandra watched in confusion as he prepared to leave.
"Ezekiel what's going on? Did August talk to you?" She asked, when he ignored her she grabbed his wrist and asked again.
"Yes. He did in fact. Don't worry, I'll be out of your precious little heads in no time." He ripped his arm away from her before he opened the back door and left. August watched with a smile before he put on a fake confused face.
"What did you say?" She asked seriously.
"I just told him exactly what we talked about. How I'm not replacing him and how you guys feel bad because he feels inadequate. I don't know why he got so angry, but he told me that I should take over because he was done dealing dealing with you… yobbos? I couldn't really understand him." Cassandra laughed, as his eyes flashed before her.
"Yeah he can be rather obnoxious. I say good riddance." What they didn't know was that Ezekiel was on the other side of the back door, listening to everything August was saying. He also watched. He was almost convinced that he hated himself when he realized that August was hypnotizing them. As he watched Cassandra leave, he heard August pull out his phone and begin speaking to someone.
"Moriarty? Yes. It's done. I tried to charmspeak them all, but the thief wasn't buying into it. I did manage to convince him to leave. I can get the Staff of Knowledge for you with no problem. I'll speak to you later. Goodbye." He hung up his phone. He jumped in surprise as a voice called out to him.
"Oh really?" It was smug and Australian and he knew who it was without even having to look up. He suddenly held up a hand and all of the door the led in or out of the Annex closed and locked. Ezekiel felt his body lift into the air and suddenly he couldn't breathe. He had a magical grip around his throat and was cutting off the supply of oxygen to the brain. Ezekiel couldn't fight back, he couldn't even breathe.
"August? What was that noise?" A voice called from upstairs. "Why is the door locked."
It was Cassandra. She broke the man's concentration, causing him to drop the magical hold he had on Ezekiel, who plummeted fifteen feet to the floor with a groan of pain. He took in gulps of air, feeling as though he couldn't get enough. He had begun to see stars when Cassandra had broken the hold. August was about to answer when he heard a weak voice behind him.
"Fight me like a man. No magic. No tricks. Just fist to fist." Ezekiel gasped out to him. "Unless you're too scared which seems pretty likely considering you tried to strangle me with magic." The twisting of the door handle ceased.
"Ezekiel?" Her voice called. "What's going on?"
"August is evil and tried to brainwash you but-" Ezekiel was suddenly cut off by a vase hitting his head.
"Cassandra? C'mon Cassie, you know that's not true. Cass?" August shouted after her, but when he got no response he turned to face Ezekiel when a fist came towards his face. He blocked it midair, grabbed his wrist, and twisted it until he heard a snap.
"Good luck stealing with a broken wrist thief. By the way, what I told you earlier wasn't a lie. It was what they truly think but are too nice to tell you." August laughed manically as he watched the man writhe in pain. He pulled out a knife from his back pocket. "Too bad they'll never get to say it." August raised his arm, about to place the final blow when he heard a sickening sound from behind him. It is what is considered the most terrifying sound in the world. The sound of a gun being cocked.
"Drop it." Eve's tough, serious tone came from behind him. He turned with his arms in the air in an act of surrender. She lowered her gun. When he noticed that, he whipped around and grabbed Ezekiel by the neck, where he held his blade.
"Go ahead. You shoot, he dies." August laughed manically. Eve gasped in surprise. Ezekiel's mind was hazy with pain, but he could still tell that something was wrong. She was acting odd.
"Alright fine. Don't kill him. Take the staff." She lowered her gun and placed it on the floor. He noticed that she blinked directly at him. One short blink, one long blink, two short blinks. L for librarians. Ezekiel heard a gasp from the man holding him captive. He felt warm liquid running down his side. When he cast his eyes downwards he saw it was blood. August fell to his knees scraping the knife against Ezekiel's neck, but the cut was only shallow and not enough to bring any danger to the thief. He fell to the floor himself, dizzy from the pain of his wrist. He realized that the blood belonged to August. He looked behind him and saw Jenkins, cleaning the tip of a long sword.
Over the next few months, Ezekiel had to wear a cast on his wrist, but it served as a reminder that the team should trust him more often.
A/N: That was kind of a shitty ending but I'm satisfied with it. I hope you guys are too! Enjoy the new episode as much as I will! I love you all more than Pippin! (I just got a part in my school's musical) ~FGaT XOXOXXOX