The park proved easy enough to find. There were enough signs around town pointing the team in the right direction. Unfortunately, when they got there they found the park almost completely empty, not a child in sight.

"It looks like a scene in a zombie movie," Ezekiel spoke with a bit too much enthusiasm. "Where do you think the kids are?"

"With creepy ass clowns hanging around? I wouldn't want to hang out here, either." Jake answered.

"But the clowns aren't here," Cassandra gestured to her head. "Headache's no worse, and my nose isn't bleeding."

"No, of course not," Jake shook his head. "Zack told me they usually see the clowns in places where kids tend to hang out. If the kids stopped coming here because the clowns were scaring them, then the clowns would stop coming here because there aren't any kids."

"Well that was easy," Jones said with a grin. "Just tell the kids to stay inside for awhile and eventually the clowns will get bored and leave."

"Where else do kids like to hang out?" Baird asked, ignoring Ezekiel's previous statement.

"Arcade?" Ezekiel suggested. At the same time, Cassandra had her own theory.

"School?" Everyone turned and gave her a strange look. "I mean, in the playground, or the parking lot?"

"Cassandra's right," Jake agreed. "When I was a kid my buddies and I loved to hang out at school in the summer. The parking lot was huge, perfect for ridin' our bikes around."

Baird nodded. "We should split up, cover more ground that way."

"Awesome. Stone and I can check out the arcade," Ezekiel offered. "And if there's time, lots of kids like to hang out at McDonald's," he added with a wink.

Jake gave Baird a desperate, pleading look. He knew that if he was forced to spend the day alone with Jones he was going to end up punching the younger man. Under normal circumstances the thief was tolerable. But his constant string of clown jokes made him unbearable.

"Nice try, Jones, but for your safety and Stone's sanity, I think it's best if you and I stick together," the Guardian came to Jake's rescue, though she didn't sound very impressed. "We'll check out the arcade, Stone and Cassandra the school."

"But seriously, kids do like to hang out at McDonald's," Ezekiel whined as Baird dragged him off. Jake couldn't help but chuckle, and Cassandra let out a giggle as they watched the pair leave.

"Would you stop it with McDonald's?" they heard Baird snap at him. "We'll get something to eat, just quit your whining."

"I should probably feel guilty that it's because of me Baird is stuck with him," Jake said with a shake of his head. "But I don't."

"Oh, she'll be okay," Cassandra said with a smile, watching their two teammates disappear around the corner. "She probably has better methods of disposing a body than you do."

Jake raised his eyebrows at Cassandra and once again couldn't stop the chuckle that escaped his lips. "I suppose we should start looking for the school. It can't be too far from here."

"We passed school crossing signs on our way here, but we never passed a school," Cassandra started. "So we must be headed in the right direction." She started to walk away but Jake reached out and gently tugged her arm causing her to stop and turn to him.

"Before we go I just...can you promise me something?" Jake asked hesitantly.

"That depends on what it is," Cassie answered, a little worried about what Jake might have in mind.

"I uh, I just want you to be careful…" he spoke slowly, choosing his words carefully. "I want you to promise me that you'll tell me if this," Jake reached up and brushed his thumb across the side of her forehead where her tumour lay, "gets to be too much. I know you can handle yourself, Cassie. But I want you to promise me that you'll take care of yourself."

He expected her to be annoyed with him. He expected her to argue. He expected her to give him the silent treatment for the rest of the day. What he didn't expect was for her to smile, to take his hand in her own, and to nod.

"What? Just like that?" he asked her, both the happiness and the shock evident in his voice. "You promise?"

"Yes, Jake, I can promise that," she squeezed his hand comfortingly. "Ever since I was diagnosed, people have been treating me like I could break at any moment. Or worse, they treat me like I'm already dead. My parents, my teachers, even Baird, they all have good intentions but they take away my say in things. I never get an opinion." Tears were beginning to form in her eyes and Jake reached forward with his free hand and gently brushed them away. "But you... I mean you worry about me, you care It's sweet. But it's so much more than that. You respect me. You understand that I'm still here, I can still make decisions for myself. So yes, Jake. I can promise you that because I know that when you ask me something like that, it comes from the heart. It doesn't come from a place of obligation. And I know that you trust me enough to make the call myself when things get to be too much."

Jake didn't know what to say. He had never been good at expressing his emotions, especially where Cassie was concerned. He wanted to let her know just how touched he was by her words. He wanted to tell her how awful he felt that she had had to endure people treating her like that for so long. He wanted to wrap her in his arms and hold her for as long as it would take to make up for all the crap she had endured throughout her life.

Instead he offered her a shy smile, squeezed her hand tight, refusing to let go, and led her in the direction of the school.

They right in that it wasn't far and that they were headed in the right direction. The pair only had to walk a couple of blocks before the school came into sight. They weren't quite there yet when they heard the sounds of children screaming. After exchanging worried glances at each other, they took off, following the sound to the school parking lot.

They got there in time to see several kids ranging in age from about eight to eleven take off on their bikes, pedalling as fast as they could. The screaming had stopped but none of the kids looked very happy. Only two people remained once the other kids had scattered. Jake recognized Zack immediately. He was there with an older boy around fifteen.

"How's your head?" Jake whispered to Cassie as they approached the two boys.

"Surprisingly fine," Cassandra answered. "Whatever scared those kids, it wasn't the clowns."

They had reached them now. Jake could tell that Zack didn't look too happy, but the older boy seemed very please about something. There was a smug smile on his face that Jake would have loved to punch if the boy was older.

"Hey there, Zack. Remember us?" Jake asked. "Who's your friend?"

"You're the Librarians," Zack nodded. "This is my brother, Tyler."

"Those kids back there didn't look too happy," Jake looked at Tyler, his eyes narrowing in suspicion. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"

"So what if I do?" the teen smirked. "What are you going to do? Revoke my library card?"

"No. No I uh…" Jake hesitated, not sure what to say to Tyler. "I was just curious what had them so upset."

"Tyler told them a story," Zack piped up. "The clown story. He's been telling everyone."

"You mean he's been telling them about the clowns that have been hanging around the town?" Cassandra asked.

"What, don't tell me you guys believe the clowns are real," Tyler laughed. "Oh, that's hilarious! I mean it's one thing for kids to believe it, but you guys are adults!"

Jake and Cassandra looked at Zack for some clarification.

"Tyler was working at a summer camp. Ever since he got back he's been terrorizing us with these stupid stories he heard while he was there," the young boy explained.

"Wait...was this before or after you guys started to see the clowns around town?" Jake asked.

"Before, I guess. Tyler got back a month ago. The clowns didn't show up until another couple weeks after."

Jake and Cassandra exchanged glances once again, just in time for both of Cassandra's hands to shoot up to her head as the pain started back up.

"Cassie!" Jake caught her as she collapsed into him. She wasn't unconscious, thankfully. Just weak. Without giving it a second thought he once again handed her a tissue for her nose, though he had returned his attention to Zack. "They're here right now, aren't they?"

Zack had been focused on the scene in front of him, but at Jake's question the boy's eyes went wide with fright and he instantly started looking around. "Over there!" he exclaimed after a few seconds, pointing to what had been behind him before.

"How many?" Jake asked, his arms still wrapped around Cassandra. She had regained her balance a bit and was probably fine to stand on her own, but Jake wasn't risking it.

"Five. They're waving at us. One of them is motioning for us…" Zack paused for a second. "No, not all of us. Just me. He's motioning for me to go over there."

"Zack," Cassandra managed to get out, though her voice was strained from the pain. "Do the clowns have pants on?" Jake gave her a second look, trying not to laugh. Though the pain was obvious in her tone, she had managed to say that very light heartedly as one would expect from Cassie.

"What!?" the young boy turned away from the clowns and looked at Cassandra with confusion. "You're kidding, right?"

"Uh, actually we kind of do need to know that," Jake shook his head at himself. He couldn't believe his job sometimes.

"Yes. They're all wearing pants," Zack said, a little amused that such information was necessary.

Tyler had been laughing during the entire exchange, very much amused that two adults were taking his little story so seriously. "You guys are all nuts! I gotta go," the boy smirked, hopping onto his bike. "Be home in time for supper, Zack. I ain't covering for you again!" He rode off, leaving his brother alone with Jake and Cassandra.

"How close are they?" Jake had been holding off asking that because he wasn't sure he really wanted to know.

"Close. Closer than I've ever seen them," Zack started, and Jake made a face meant to encourage a more detailed answer. "Most of them are back farther, by the building. But there's one...like two school busses away from us, if that."

Jake mumbled a curse under his breath, hoping the kid couldn't hear him. "You said they've never harmed anyone, right?" Zack nodded. "Have they ever followed you guys?"

"They don't chase after us, but sometimes I think they follow me home," the boy was edging his way closer to the Librarians, and Jake could tell he was scared. "They watch me, you know? I can see them from the windows."

Jake sighed. He knew he couldn't just abandon the kid, but all he really wanted to do was scoop Cassandra up and run like hell back to the annex. Instead he did his best to remain calm for the sake of Zack. "Cassie darlin'? Can you walk?" Cassandra nodded. "Okay, we are gettin' the hell out of here. Zack, lead the way back to your house."

Fortunately for Jake, Zack's house was in the same direction as the door back to the annex. The boy rode ahead on his bike, Jake guiding Cassandra a few feet behind. Every other minute Zack would check behind them and let the Librarians know that the clowns were still there, though Jake and Cassie both already knew. It wasn't until they reached Zack's house that the redhead's headache minimized and they knew that they had lost the clowns.

"They're slow, but they'll catch up," Zack said as he tossed his bike aside onto the front lawn. "I'll be safe inside but you guys should probably get out of here."

Jake nodded his thanks as he grabbed Cassandra's arm and took off towards the door to the annex.

"Jake!" Cassie called out as she desperately tried to keep up with him. She never realized how quickly Jake could run, and if he didn't either slow down or let go of her then pretty soon he would be literally dragging her behind him. "Jake, wait!"

He slowed down and glanced over his shoulder at her, though he never came to a complete stop. "What is it? You heard the kid, they'll catch up to us!" Cassandra managed to get her arm back and was able to stop to catch her breath. Not willing to leave her, Jake was forced to wait, though he was obviously on edge. "Cassie!" he all but whined."

"Jake, why are we running? I'm pretty sure Zack just meant we shouldn't stay and hang out outside his house. I don't think they're actually chasing us."

"But they're still coming!" Jake said, his voice going a little too high at the end of his sentence.

"Jake!" Cassandra couldn't help but laugh. "We're running from clowns that have never hurt anyone. For all we know they got bored following us and went somewhere else."

"Yeah but…" Jake thought desperately for an excuse to keep moving, but unfortunately only one word popped into his head. "clowns!"

Cassandra just shook her head, unable to wipe the smile off her face. "You're just lucky Jones isn't here to see you like this. Come on." This time it was her turn to grab his arm, but she refused to run anymore. Stunned by her sudden control of the situation, Jake let Cassandra lead him at a more appropriate pace back to the alleyway they had started in and through the magic door.