Well, this is basically an excuse for me to write fluff
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Cassandra watched as Jenkins cleared cobwebs from his face as they all descended into the hidden area of The Library – it wouldn't ever stop surprising them – clearly the man she loved wasn't pleased about any of this and it made her want to cling to him. Jake kept a close eye on the redhead as they walked to make sure she didn't fall – at seven and a half months she'd almost doubled in size and even the man she loved struggled to keep up with her cravings – while the Caretaker lead the way and Flynn muttered something about having 'never been down here before'.
"Yes, well," Sighed Jenkins. "this may come as a shock."
Everyone peered closer through the darkness of the cave-like room, the torches hardly helped but they could all see a figure emerge slowly from the darkness.
"Who is that?" Asked Eve in a tone somewhere between shocked and cautious.
Flynn and the strange women behind the iron cell door just stared at one another for a moment, the group fell eerily silent until Flynn finally broke the quietude.
"...My Guardian." His eyes were wide and all that flamboyant personality of his faded away. "Nicole."
"Hello Flynn." Her voice was soft and lightly accented but much darker than Flynn remembered it. The other Librarians and Baird didn't know what to say. "Surprised to see me?"
"Please, Sir, no." Jenkins leapt into action trying to keep the head Librarian from releasing Nicole. "Please step away from the door. Mister Carson-"
A wave of denial and confusion had washed over Flynn, his voice grew higher in pitch as he cut off the Caretaker leaving Stone, Ezekiel and Cassandra feeling like the kids watching Mom and Dad fight.
"We have to get her out. She shouldn't be in there."
None of them had ever heard Flynn sound so unsure of himself or the situation.
"Flynn, what's going on?" Questioned Eve with a puzzled expression on her beautiful face, she didn't like not knowing what was going on.
"This is Nicole Noone, my first Guardian." Replied Flynn quickly more like he'd come across an old photograph of her rather than seeing the woman herself before him locked up. "She helped me find the Spear of Destiny. She taught me everything."
Jenkins stared at Nicole with that expression of his, the one that was glaring without actually glaring at someone; intimidating and powerful. Flynn started to tell of some past adventure with Nicole by his side as they saved the world from Ninjas and H G Well's time machine but Cassandra just watched the man she loved. She knew Jenkins better than anyone else alive, probably better than Charlene actually had, and he was on high alert, he didn't trust Nicole and Cassandra was inclined to follow his lead. It slowly became obvious how Nicole had survived the time machine explosion but everything she said bothered Cassandra, the words were emotive but the look in her eyes wasn't. They seemed... dead.
"Pardon me," began Jake. "Five hundred years? How are you still alive?"
Cassandra was grateful for her fellow Librarian's interruption, Nicole's words had turned dark and she didn't like them
"Immortality artefact, which she stole." Jenkins informed flatly without taking his eyes from the former Guardian. "Along with countless others. You see, Miss Noone became immortal in order to exact revenge on those she thought had abandoned her. She wanted to hurt you, Mister Carson. She wanted to hurt the Library and nearly succeeded. A hundred years ago, we discovered she had found the cornerstones to the Library of Alexandria."
"She found the stones?" Said Cassandra.
"Three of them. Very clever though, she hid them before I had a chance to apprehend her."
Up until that moment everyone had just believed Jenkins remained in the annex and Library, but of course he was an immortal Knight of the Round Table, of course he'd had his own missions, of course he'd saved people.
Flynn's voice darkened almost as though he'd been betrayed. They'd been so happy twenty minutes ago practising for Baird and Flynn to take over from Judson and Charlene and now there was tension.
"Wait a minute. You locked her up. You let me think she was dead!"
The head Librarian's voice started to rise but Jenkins remained calm and relaxed.
"You never told me! I could have gone back in time and saved her!"
"No, sir. No, sir-"
Cassandra continued to watch Nicole as Jenkins spoke of prophecy and she didn't like what she saw Nicole looked at Jenkins as though he were the evil one, that wasn't true, Jenkins was a good man. He, Judson and Charlene must have had a good reason to keep her existence from Flynn. Suddenly Nicole's hard stare fell on the redhead herself and Cassandra automatically pressed a hand over her rounded belly as she shuffled slowly towards Jenkins, admittedly that put her closer to Nicole but she'd have rather been closer to danger with Jenkins beside her than far away without him.
"Aww, how cute, a pregnant Librarian. Never saw that one coming." Nicole wrinkled her nose as though disgusted by the idea. "Come on then, who's the baby daddy?" She grinned almost manically. "Who is going to have to raise it after you die? Librarians do that you know, die young."
"Enough!" Growled Jenkins, he'd been totally calm the entire time they'd been under the golden lion but he wouldn't stand for his darling Cassandra being upset; it wasn't good for her or their child.
"I was just having some fun." Nicole reached up and gripped the bars of her cell. "Baby daddy is going to be-"
He cut her off. "I said enough!"
Jenkins slowly shuffled himself in front of Cassandra and their unborn baby; Nicole just stared at him... and then the penny dropped.
"Oh!" The blonde's eyes went wide. "Oh Galahad, you pervert! What is she, twenty-five?"
"I'm twenty-eight and leave him alone! Jenkins is a good person." Scolded Cassandra without really thinking.
The blonde behind bars laughed at that and backed up a few steps.
"Is that what he's got you believing? Hasn't told you about his endless crush on Charlene or the things he and Dorian Gray got up to back in the day? Oooh or about Edmund."
Stone and Ezekiel both raised eyebrows but said nothing, truth be told they feared what the white-haired man was capable of.
"Are you done?!" Growled Jenkins, brow furrowed.
"For now." Nicole grinned.
Jenkins huffed, when he looked around for Cassandra she was nowhere to be found. He pushed past Jake and Ezekiel uncaring as to what they thought. The immortal marched back into the Annex and called out Cassandra's name but she didn't answer, there were only two places she'd have gone, his lab and their room. Sure enough when Jenkins poked his head into his work room he found Cassandra sat on his chair with her hands over her stomach.
"Cassandra, Sweetheart, I can explain." He went to her side instantly.
"You don't have to, it's okay, Jenkins, I'm not angry with you. I just couldn't listen to her trying to push us apart for her own sick amusement."
The redhead opened her arms and Jenkins all but fell into them, Cassandra's head rested against his chest. She smelt of strawberries.
"I love you, Jenkins. I knew you had a past when we started this relationship and I know some of it you don't want to talk about. I'm not going to force you." He'd followed Cassandra to comfort her and yet there she was comforting him. She smiled. "I am actually curious about this Edmund though. Will you tell me about him?"
There wasn't a single hint of demand in her silk-like voice, just a soft question that Jenkins had every right to decline an answer to. The white-haired man smiled softly and perched on the work table beside the woman he loved, she looked at him with a sense of awe, almost like a child waiting for a bedtime story.
"My love, when one is as old as I am gender becomes entirely irrelevant and one focuses more on who a person is. In a way it's freeing. Edmund O'Cleirgh was the first time I realised that. He was The Librarian almost five hundred years ago from Ireland with a crown of fire and couldn't go more than a sentence without making a joke."
Jenkins smiled at that and Cassandra found in infectious, before she knew it she was smiling up at the man she loved eager to hear of Edmund O'Cleirgh.
"You must have really cared about him."
"I did, still do." There was a pause. "Would you like to see him? His portrait is hanging opposite Carnwennan."
Jenkins rose to his feet and helped his beloved Cassandra up.
"We have that?"
The older man smiled, smirked really.
"Sweetheart, I'm Galahad, we have most of Arthur's things."
Jenkins took the redhead's hand and lead her through into The Library and down the maze of stacks until Arthur's dagger came into view; the others were thankfully still down at Nicole's cell so The Library was peaceful.
"He's handsome." Said Cassandra when she saw the large portrait, Jenkins hadn't been kidding about the bold red hair.
"I thought so too. That painting makes him look taller than he actually was though."
"Were you his Guardian?"
Normally getting information out of Jenkins was like pulling teeth but he always opened up to Cassandra in a way he couldn't with anybody else, he knew she'd never judge him.
"No, a woman named Veronique Lubow was his Guardian. I'm not entirely sure why but The Library tends to favour women as Guardians." He told her absent-mindedly. "Robert Cunningham is probably the most famous male Guardian we've ever had... he did not like me."
"Alright, but tell me about Edmund."
Jenkins took a breath and pulled Cassandra closer so as he could wrap his arms around her from behind and rest his hands on her belly.
"What would you like to know?" He pressed a kiss to the porcelain skin of her neck.
"How did you meet him? Who kissed who first? I need to live vicariously though you, you're the only real relationship I've ever had. Comes to something when your boyfriend has had more boyfriends than you have."
The two chuckled at that.
"Edmund had gotten himself locked in some room of nightmares hell bent on killing him and Veronique couldn't get in without killing herself, so, as the immortal on the team I got sent to let him out. I was a glorified doorman. Anyway, I got down there and saved the day-"
"Very modest." Cassandra leaned back into his touch.
"I usually am. And he kissed me first." Grinned Jenkins. "Veronique wanted me gone as soon as possible, didn't want Guardian competition. She didn't have anything to worry about though, I never got a letter."
Cassandra suddenly spun around in his arms, careful of the baby bump, and looked into his eyes with all the love she had for him.
"The Guardian protects the Librarians, but the Caretaker, he protects everyone and everything. I don't think we all actually know half of the things you do for The Library."
It was true, Jenkins might not have seemed important, he wasn't a Librarian or a Guardian, but he did everything from changing the light bulbs to preventing the Kelpies and the Grindylow from starting a water based world war three.
The two of them just stood there for a time in the warmth of one another's arms, occasionally the baby kicked as he or she rolled over. Cassandra didn't need to hear all the details of Jenkins' relationship with Edmund, she just liked seeing that he'd been happy.
"Edmund was fun and reminded me that I didn't have to do everything alone and be miserable. Somehow after he died I lost sight of that and hid away in the annex with only my inventions for company... or at least I did until a redhead with a gift for making people happy popped out of the woods." Jenkins brushed a stray strand of hair behind Cassandra ear and pressed a delicate kiss to her cheek. "I love you, Cassandra. Thank you."
"For what?" She asked softly, voice no more than a whisper.
"For giving me what I never thought I would have, a family."
"Oh Jenkins." Cassandra rose up on her tiptoes as best she could and pressed a kiss to his lips. "Don't ever change."
"I'll try not to."