Ain't No Rest for the Wicked:
A/N: Hello my dears! How are you guys? The title kind of sucks but I love Cage the Elephant so… If you guys didn't hear: Me and Kira (Queerseth/ SnorkleShit) are going head to head in something called the Whangst Clash 2k16. I normally write Whump and she is the Angst Queen. That's why I'm trying my hand at angst and she's going to kill it with her whump. The winner is whoever makes more people cry. This one is another whump and it's for Rachel (Mom Friend of the Year).
Jake didn't often feel guilty for things. Of course, he was human so he had his moments. Nothing topped the moments he was about to face, however.
"Give it up Prospero." Baird shouted as they caught up to the wizard. He had stolen a magic wand of sorts and was attempting to get away. It would've worked for him if they hadn't managed to get him cornered.
"Or what?" He questioned, slowly backing into the wall as the team stepped towards him.
"You won't like that option." Jake grunted, cracking his knuckles.
"Is that a threat? I'm really not scared of you Jacob Stone." Prospero chuckled, flipping the wand in his hand.
"You should be scared. Not just of me." Jake pointed at Eve. "She's scarier."
"Just give us the wand." Baird outstretched her hand while rolling her eyes.
"No. I don't think I'll do that." Prospero smirked as he lifted the wand slightly. Ezekiel's eyes widened slightly. Somehow he knew that this wasn't going to end well.
"Fine I'll take it then." Jake stepped forward and immediately Prospero flicked the wand.
Jake saw the blue sparks hurdling towards him and couldn't react quickly enough. He felt a hard push against his side and suddenly, he was on the floor. He looked up in time to see Prospero evaporate in a cloud of smoke. Then he heard a groan beside him.
Ezekiel was lying next to him, hands on his head, eyes clenched shut. He didn't, did he? Jake felt cold suddenly as he realized. Ezekiel pushed him out of the way. He took the spell for him.
"Ezekiel? Are you okay?" Cassandra asked as she kneeled down beside him.
"Yeah." He sat up and widened his eyes. "Woah. I guess I'm a little disoriented." Baird and Jake pulled him to his feet and allowed him to lean on them as they walked back to the closet that doubled as The Back Door.
"Welcome back." Jenkins deadpanned as he glanced up at them. "Oh one of you is injured again. I'm shocked." He stood as they helped Ezekiel into a chair.
"I'm fine." Ezekiel groaned, hating being doted on.
"He was hit by a spell." Baird didn't mention that the spell was meant to hit Jake.
"Let me take a look." Jenkins studied him silently for a few, long, silent minutes. "He's looks alright to me. The only thing I noticed is that you appear more tired than usual but that's nothing too terrible. You're lucky. You could've been killed. Why didn't you move out of the way?" Jake and Ezekiel made quick eye contact before Jake looked back down at the ground. Jenkins was right. He could've been killed. Jake would've had his blood on his hands. He was about to explain what really happened when Ezekiel cleared his throat.
"I-uh… wasn't fast enough." Ezekiel stuttered as Jake's eyes widened. Why did he cover for him? Jake owed him big time. The Clippings Book jerked on the table drawing their attention to it. As the others walked to the table, Ezekiel hopped down from his chair and stood in place, blinking a few times.
"You good?" Jake asked. He was the only one who noticed it.
"Yeah. Stood up too fast." Ezekiel carried on with his normal business.
"A magical thief." Eve sighed. "Damn it I knew this day would come. Ezekiel we're going to need your expertise." She groaned as if him being a thief was a bad thing.
"About time." He smiled as he read through the article. "So basically in the shortest terms possible this thief is using magic to transport themselves inside the building without leaving a trace of evi-" He cut himself off with a hard yawn. He shook his head before continuing. "Evidence." He finished before he yawned again.
"Ookay. Are you sure you're alright?" Cassandra asked seriously.
"Yeah, Jenkins said I'm fine. Just a bit tired is all but I'll be okay. Let's just catch this thief." He smiled. Truth be told Ezekiel didn't know if he was alright. His muscles were so fatigued and his eyes felt heavy, but that was his own business and not to be shared. They had a job to get done. He could sleep later.
"Ok so here's the plan. Ezekiel you're going to break into that museum. See if you can find anything. I know you said they're getting in without leaving any evidence, but doesn't mean they didn't leave any while they were there." Baird ordered him. A few hours later, under the cover of darkness, Ezekiel broke in. He discovered two things. One, breaking in was pointless as there was no evidence to be found. Two, it took a lot more effort to break in than it should have. He felt like he had the flu. Every movement he made took every ounce of energy from his body. All of his muscles screamed in protest at every movement. It was like the life was being sucked out of him. By the time he got back to the Annex he was exhausted and had a massive headache.
"What did you find?" Eve asked immediately upon his arrival.
"Nothing." He grumbled. His saw their forlorn expressions and tried to pep himself up. "But I can connect to the video camera feed and we can watch how they do it." He told them, stifling another yawn.
"Alright do your thing tech boy." Cassandra giggled at the look she got from him. "What? Brain Grape is okay but suddenly Tech Boy is off the table?"
"So I just have to bypass this firewall, which I'm not even going to begin to explain, and I should be-" He stopped, blinking.
"What?" Jake asked, concerned as Ezekiel's eyes became transfixed on a single spot on the wall.
"I'm waiting for the room to stop spinning." He said breathlessly. He tried to stand but the minute his feet were beneath him, his knees gave way and he crashed into the ground.
"Jenkins!" Eve called suddenly.
"How may I assist you?" He appeared, sarcastically, out of nowhere.
"There's definitely something wrong with him." Eve nodded at Ezekiel who had been pulled up into a sitting position by Jake and Cassandra.
"Perhaps the spell took longer to take effect." Jenkins nodded grimly. He looked over him quickly, having a feeling he knew exactly what was happening. "Prospero cast a spell that is taking away all of his energy. It will continue to do so until Mr. Jones here has no more energy to give."
"So it'll make him extremely tired? That explains a lot." Eve looked down at him.
"Colonel, it'll take what he doesn't have. This will kill him." Jenkins told her, sensing that she wasn't quite grasping the severity of the issue.
"Isn't there anything we can do?" Cassandra asked. She was rubbing circle into Ezekiel's back as he squeezed his eyes shut.
"Magically? No." The room turned grim. "However, the only thing he could do to save himself is sleep. It'll counteract the spell until eventually he overloads it with energy." Jenkins explained. The room turned more cheerful.
"I'm confining you to bed rest while we finish this mission up. No phone either."Baird ordered him.
"I'm fine." He told her, eyes still shut. "Besides, you guys need me to catch the thief."
"The only thing you need to catch right now is some z's." Baird smiled. "This isn't a punishment. This is to help you. You feel pretty crappy right now don't you? If you sleep you'll feel so much better. Trust me. We can handle the thief."
"You'll be minus a person." He stood to try to protest but his body betrayed him and he fell back against his seat.
"Actually…" Eve tapped her chin in thought. "We'll be down two."
"What?" Cassandra looked at her curiously.
"Jake stay here and watch him. He's going to be stubborn and try to work so he clearly needs a babysitter." Eve said playfully.
"What? No!" Ezekiel groaned. He thought Jake would be mad too.
"Alright. I'll make sure he rests." Jake nodded. "You guys should call Flynn though. Have at least three people."
"I'll help you ladies as well." Jenkins offered his arm to Cassandra and together they walked out The Back Door. Now it was Ezekiel and Jake.
"C'mon. Let's get you in bed." Jake said softly as he pulled Ezekiel into a standing position.
"No, I need to help them." Ezekiel whined as he stood. Then the exhaustion hit him. "On second thought how about I watch that security video from my bed."
"Bed yes. Security footage no." Jake shook his head, causing Ezekiel to pout. Ezekiel was standing but technically Jake was holding him up in a standing position. Then came the trial of walking. After one half step Ezekiel had stumbled into Jake, who caught him before they both hit the ground. Jake caught Ezekiel's expression and felt pity towards the man. He had never looked more defeated.
"I uh- couldn't lift my leg." Ezekiel mumbled, looking at the ground. Jake nodded silently.
"Okay well I think there's only one way to do this. Do you mind if I…?" Jake trailed off at the end.
"Just do it. I already look stupid. You might as well." Ezekiel sighed deeply. Hearing permission, Jake scooped him up into his arms and carried him to his bedroom. When he was laying down Ezekiel crossed his arms.
"What?" Jake asked, concerned he'd done something wrong.
"The one thing you guys can't make me do is fall asleep." Ezekiel said stubbornly. "That's the only thing I control."
"Ezekiel-" Jake began.
"No. This is not fair. The one time I could've caught the thief and would've actually been taken seriously is being ripped away from me." His words were beginning to slur as he got angrier.
"Ezekiel, please, calm down." Jake pleaded, noting how pale Ezekiel had become. "You're using too much energy being mad."
"Why do you care?" Ezekiel's voice was soft and weak.
"Because you're killing yourself!" Jake's voice was panicked as Ezekiel's eyes began to flutter. "And it's all my fault." He stopped suddenly. "All of this. My fault. You, Ezekiel Jones who never loses, might lose because of me." He said it like a dawning realization. "Do you understand why I care so much now?" He looked up, only to find Ezekiel fast asleep.
"It's because I love you." He whispered, laying a kiss on his forehead before turning off the light and letting him rest.
A/N: How are you guys today. I hope you're all happy and at peace. Thanks so much for reading! I love you all more than cotton candy. ~FGaT XOXOXOXOXOXOX