The Labyrinth

A Librarians 2014 fanfic

A/N: This idea stuck with me after the labyrinth episode, and here it is. Cassandra and Jake (Cake!) slight bonding, a bit of humor from our favorite thief and guardian. Takes place after the most recent episode: the one with the fairy tales. I hope you enjoy it, and please review!

"That was pretty impressive, if I do say so myself." Ezekiel said, tossing a coin and catching it as he walked into the Annex.

"You go ahead and say that." Eve said, brushing past him and then turning to face her Librarians. "I think we've gotten much better." She admitted. "Just don't let it go to your heads." She said pointedly, looking at Jones.

He smirked and walked off. Eve looked at the other two. "What are you guys gonna do?" she asked.

Jake lifted up his shoulders and shrugged. Cassandra thought for a minute. "I think I'll look through some of the books." She said.

Eve tightened her lips and rocked back on her heels, feeling the tension in the room. "Okay then." Then she walked off too.

Jake thought she was acting weird, but he didn't think about it long. He watched as Cassandra started looking at the spines of the collection of books, and then blurted out, "Does it hurt?"

She looked at him, startled. "What?"

Oh, crap. No going back now.

"Does it hurt when you… when you solve problems like we do on our missions?"

Her mouth was still open the slightest bit as she thought about his question, but she didn't seem offended. That was good. "No." she finally said. "But I can feel a difference in my brain when it happens."

He put his hands in his jeans pockets, nodding. "Just wondering." He said, as an explanation.

He started to walk away after an awkward silence when he heard her speak again. "My mind is like the labyrinth."

He turned and looked at her. "What?"

She smiled. "You asked if it hurt to do what I do, and I said no. But a more complete answer is that my mind is like the labyrinth. It doesn't hurt, but when I hit a wall I notice it. And sometimes I need help getting through."

He stepped closer, feeling more comfortable. "That's why we're here. To help you figure it out."

"But no one else can figure it out! That's what makes it so hard. I'm the only one who can navigate it, and if I get stuck…" she looked back at the books, her eyes downcast.

"You're worried about not being able to find the answer on a mission." He guessed.

She turned to him quickly, throwing her arms down by her side. "You know it's going to happen eventually! And what if it's my fault something bad happens as a result?"

"Cassandra, it won't happen. You're too good for it to happen."

She didn't answer, just looked at him carefully.

He smirked, trying to lighten the mood. "Besides, I can navigate your brain."

She scrunched up her eyebrows, obviously not expecting him to say that. "No you can't."

Her answer was meant to sound sharp, but there was a question to it. She really didn't have a good poker face. "Face it, Cass. I understand how your mind works; at least enough to help you when you get stuck. As we go on more missions together, I'll understand more."

Her expression cleared, and her voice was quieter when she spoke. "You said you couldn't trust me."

"Yeah." He said immediately. "I did. And I'm still not sure."

Damn, he thought right after he said it. He hadn't meant to say it like that. He was supposed to sound completely against trusting her. That was what 90% of him screamed at him to do, to keep his distance from her. But the other 10%... well that part was conflicted.

"I don't need to trust you to understand you." He decided.

"Are you sure about that?" she asked. "I might need proof."

He noticed that she seemed to be back to her perky, bouncy self and smiled, backing up towards the stairs. He didn't notice the figure at the top quickly run off, trying not to be seen. "Plenty of that already, but sure. Next case we have. I'll show you." He turned and walked up the stairs, feeling better about some things, to another stack of books that hid him from view. He looked back at the steps for a minute, wondering if she would say anything else, and then turned around, chose a book, and sat down to read.

About half an hour later he stood up and put the book away, and then turned to walk back to his room.

And jumped, because Eve was standing right in front of him.

"What the hell?" he asked.

She stood there with her arms crossed, hair in its typical tight bun. "Couldn't help overhearing your conversation earlier."

He pushed his lips together. "You were eavesdropping."

"Not really." Jones said, peeking his head out from behind a shelf. "Me? I definitely was." He said, smiling. "She only knows cause I told her."

"Nice job keeping it a secret." She said to him. Then she looked at Jake again. "So I didn't hear everything myself. That doesn't matter. What does is that you don't play with her."

"Why would I do that?"

Eve sighed quickly. "I don't know. But for some reason, you're the best one on this team for her, and the only one who knows how to help her like she needs. So don't hurt her on purpose."

"Where are you getting the idea that I want to hurt her? I said I didn't trust her, but I was starting to understand her. That's all true!"

She blinked. "What?"

"What did you think I said?"

Eve glared at Ezekiel, who smirked a bit and then vanished. "Doesn't matter. Just forget about this talk, okay?"

He raised an eyebrow. "No problem."

"Good. Now I'm going to kill Jones."

"Try to make it look like an accident!" he called after her.

Cassandra kept looking over the books after Jake went upstairs. She thought it was weird that he would suddenly ask about her gift/curse. But she also felt hopeful. Her talk with Eve earlier that day was still on her mind.

She didn't know if she believed he could really understand her. She didn't even know if she completely understood herself. The thought made her smile.

Maybe he was starting to open up, just a bit. Maybe Jake was starting to get closer to being able to trust her. She didn't want to admit how much she wanted that; to have his trust. But she did.

And her concern about not being able to find an answer one time, on a mission? She had definitely not meant to say that. But his response had shocked her more than her outburst.

He thought he could navigate the labyrinth that was inside her head.

The thought just confused her; she didn't know what she felt. So she pushed the thought aside, chose a book, and settled down to read it.

But before she started she summoned it to her hand: the little bit of magic she had kept from their last mission, with the fairy tales. Maybe that was why things were starting to look up. She'd always longed for magic to be real, and now it had been largely released to the world. If she could find a bit more…

Maybe she could find her way to the center of the labyrinth. And not the center she found for each individual problem. No, she wanted to find the true center; the one that she could never find, despite how hard she tried. She didn't get lost. She just couldn't find it. Maybe it would save her, if she found that center; the cause of her ability, besides the tumor. Then she could figure out how to keep it from killing her. She just knew the answer was magical.

She made the bit of magic vanish and smiled as she opened the book. She had time. And support.

One thing she was sure of after that brief talk with Jake?

She would never get lost in the labyrinth again.