Lost
By the anonymouslibrarians
Disclaimer. I own neither the Librarians nor Peruvian Darkness Powder.
The moment he lost Nicole was the moment their baby died. The pair of them had been one of the few constants in each other's lives for around three hundred years by the time they married. They loved each other. Or Jenkins loved Nicole and believed she loved him. Over the subsequent years, he had spent days on end debating whether or not she truly reciprocated his feelings. It wasn't like his love for Charlene, but it was close enough. And while Jenkins was wary of venturing into a state of being that usually lasted one's entire life when he still had feelings for another woman and he knew Nicole longed for a man who hadn't even been born, the two could understand each other in ways that few people in any dimension could.
It was nice to be understood. To have someone to share one's joys and sorrows after years of being alone. Of course he'd had flings and relationships over the years, but with mortals who could never fully comprehend what it was like to have lived long enough to see civilizations crumble. Nicole was different. And for 50 short but wonderful years. They'd been happy. But then they'd slipped up. A tiny fault in a protection spell and Nicole had gotten pregnant. They'd both had children over the years. Had children and lost them. Neither wanted to lose any more. They both hoped that the fact that their immortality would somehow lead to a longer lifespan for their child, but knew that there was no guarantee that this would happen.
Their daughter, Evangeline, had been three months old when she'd caught scarlet fever. They'd used a healing potion, but two weeks later it was back. They'd used every healing artifact that's energy couldn't be depleted, but Evangeline just didn't seem able to stay healthy. Eventually, Jenkins and Nicole had been forced to accept that, short of turning their infant daughter immortal, there was nothing they could do. Sentencing a loved one to a state of perpetual infancy was unthinkable. The parents had made the decision to let their daughter go.
They'd stayed together for a year after that, but things weren't the same. When Nicole had left, Jenkins felt no bitterness. Maybe he'd even been a bit relieved. The pain of looking at each other had become unbearable. When he'd discovered she'd stolen artifacts, he was concerned, but still didn't believe she would use them against the Library. Until the night he found her in the weapons gallery.
Jenkins had begged her to see reason. He had a duty to the Library and to humanity, though, and when she wouldn't surrender he'd made it clear that she could only leave if she put down the suitcase full of dangerous artifacts. She had replied by throwing Peruvian Darkness Powder at him.
Jenkins was an old soldier. He knew how to fight through shock, and had still managed to block the door, grabbing Nicole's arm. She had shot him then. Of course it hadn't killed him, but it had still hurt, and the shock alone would have been enough to distract him. After she had made her escape and Jenkins had recovered and managed to raise the alarm, he'd mourned for the life the two of them had shared and lost, but had steeled himself for what must be done. Whatever the two of them had shared was clearly over. Now, Nicole was armed and at large. If Jenkins didn't want to lose anyone else, he would need to stop her before she used any of those weapons, none of which could be used without catastrophic consequences.
Note: I believe Nicole is probably innocent (yes, I've seen Graves of Time, but wanting to kill a certain spoiler doesn't necessarily mean not wanting to harm the Library or Librarians, so I'm still wary), but I don't think Jenkins would lock her up without being certain in his own mind that she was a danger to the Library, the Librarians, and maybe humanity in general.
