(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 4

Never was there a room of more awkward people than in The Annex this particular day. Parker and Hardison, who The Librarians had understood were dating, sat either side of the desk barely looking at each other. Jenkins had just finished explaining, again, what had probably happened to Eliot. Jake, Cassie, and Ezekiel were eager to figure out how to fix the problem. Honestly, they mostly just wanted to escape the room with the atmosphere you could cut with a knife.

"So, this all happened and you, what?" asked Hardison, looking less than impressed. "Just forgot to call me?"

"There wasn't time," said Parker snippily. "Everything has happened so fast. Besides, up until Eliot got knocked out, there was nothing worth calling for. After, it's just been one thing and another thing."

"She's got a point, mate," said Ezekiel, hoping to be helpful, or maybe just stick his nose in, it was hard to tell sometimes. "Your man Spencer got knocked out, and then we had to secure the place, and just when we were starting to get to the researching what happened part, you showed up."

"As if you knew something was wrong," said Cassandra then, a frown forming on her face. "How did you know that?"

"I didn't, not exactly," Hardison admitted. "Just thought it was weird I heard nothing from nobody, so I checked in on the cameras back at the pub. I saw Eliot and Parker leaving with you guys, ran facial recognition, found out you belonged to The Library... and that Eliot been keeping a brother a secret all this time."

"We all have secrets," said Parker, like a reflex.

She looked up at the same moment Hardison turned and their eyes met. Whatever was happening with the two of them, it had to be put aside for now. If Eliot needed help, that was priority one.

"How bad is he?"

"Unconscious," she said flatly. "Some kind of magical unconscious. I have no idea."

"Allow me to elaborate, if I can," said Jenkins, taking point, repeating much of what he had said to the others before Hardison arrived.

Parker got up and wandered over to where Cassie was whispering to Jake, and Jones was hammering away on his phone.

"So, what now?" she asked. "We need to help Eliot."

"There are books we can look into," Cassandra explained. "Unfortunately, none of us has any great knowledge on this particular subject."

"Even if I knew the Greek mythology, this rock is... I have no idea what the antidote or whatever would be," said Jake, rubbing the back of his neck. "Maybe he'll come around in an hour, maybe not."

"I'll dig into the card catalogue," said Cassandra, looking from Jake to Parker and feeling just awful for the both of them. "Greek Mythology, the Oneiroi, cross referenced with rocks or caves or stones..."

Cassie moved away to start her search, but no sooner had she got one drawer opened up than Ezekiel stopped her.

"I think I've got something," he declared, pulling up a document on his phone. "A paper, written by none other than Flynn Carsen, on exactly this rock," he said, gesturing to the box on the table where the very item lay yet. "Seemed he did a whole study on it way back when, and all of its magical properties."

"I did say, did I not, that if anyone was going to know about this it would likely be Mr Carsen," said Jenkins, wandering over. "I'll track down the original paper, it'll be somewhere in The Library, I'm sure, and any additional research will probably be filed alongside it."

"I'll print off what I have here, just in case," said Ezekiel, moving away to the next room to do just that.

"I'm still going to check the card catalogue, see if there are any books, any more information on what might be happening to Eliot," said Cassie, looking to Jake with an encouraging smile.

"So, I'm guessing the best guy for the situation is Carsen," said Hardison then. "He's the real Librarian, right?"

"We're all real Librarians," said Jake, looking a little too like his brother for the hacker's liking as he stared at him. "Just because we don't know about this one thing, we're just as smart as he is. We'll help Eliot."

"We'll all help," said Parker definitely. "Somehow, but where is Flynn? Can we get a hold of him?"

"No." Jake admitted, shaking his head. "He went off on a mission of his own a while back. We heard nothing, then all of a sudden, Baird, she's our Guardian, she hears from him. Just a note saying he needs her to go meet with him someplace. We haven't heard from either of them since."

"And this happened how long before your Library got attacked by the ski-masked duo?" asked Hardison with wide eyes.

It was strange that it hadn't occurred to anyone else until now, but Jacob was well aware that his mind hadn't been entirely on the chain events leading up to his brother getting knocked out, only the fact of Eliot's unconscious state itself. Now that he thought on it, it did seem like quite the coincidence. Flynn gone, Baird called to follow, and then the attack, when the two people most likely to know what to do weren't around.

"I think it's time we questioned those guys that bust in here," said Jake, heading for the door - Parker followed.

Jenkins stepped into their path before they got more than a few paces into the hall.

"I'm sorry, Mr Stone, Ms Parker, but I really don't believe that's a good idea," he said, shaking his head.

"Jenkins, they have to know what happened," Jake insisted. "My brother is lying unconscious in a room after being whammied with some magic rock, and you expect me to sit here and not ask the only two people who might know something about what happened?"

"Not only am I almost completely certain that they have no clue as to what they have caused here," Jenkins informed them, glancing at Parker and seeing that she was already trying to figure out some new way to access the prisoners that wouldn't require him moving, "I have also ensured that the room in question cannot and will not be able to accessed until Mr Carson returns."

"Man, this sure wasn't how I saw this week going," said Hardison, sat by the bed where Eliot was lying unconscious yet. "So, all those years we was tight like brothers, you never told me you actually had one. Not that I mad about that, 'cause that'd be dumb, but you coulda told us, man. 'Specially since he a Librarian and all."

Hardison pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling like a headache was incoming. He really hadn't slept enough the last couple of hours. What he wouldn't do for a bottle of orange soda and his own bed, but that wasn't going to happen. His family needed him, and as screwed up as things were getting with him and Parker, that all had to be shelved for a while. For once, Eliot needed saving, instead of being the one to save them. There was no way in hell Hardison was letting this guy down, not now.

"Your bro and his buddies are looking into the whole magical voodoo stuff. That's one skill I ain't got," he said, shaking his head. "I mean, I know magic if it's World of Warcraft or The 10th Kingdom or whatever, but this? This is a whole other world, man."

"Actually, magic is really only science that's beyond our understanding," said a voice, "plus a little math."

Hardison turned to find Cassandra stood behind him, clutching a book to her chest.

"How's that?" he asked, a little confused by what he figured was supposed to be an explanation.

"Well, it's a lot to get your head around at first, magic being in the world and all, but it really is just a little way past the spectrum of the sciences and mathematics that we already understand. Anyway, we have resources here, and Mr Jenkins has certain specific skills. The point is, we think we may have an explanation for Eliot's condition."

"What is it?" asked Parker, dropping down from above.

Cassie almost jumped out of her skin.

"How do you do that?" she asked, the words coming out more like a series of squeaks than words.

"You never get used to it," Hardison assured her. "So, anything you got to help Eliot, let's hear it," he urged Cassie then.

"Right," she said, opening up the book she had been cradling this whole time. "These pages here, which were referenced by Flynn in his paper on the Oneiroi, explain the supposed effects that the rock from the cave might have on any mortal who comes into contact with it. From what I've read here, I'm pretty sure that Eliot isn't actually in a coma state, he really is just sleeping, just very deeply."

"He's not like Sleeping Beauty, Ezekiel was wrong," said Parker pointedly.

Cassie frowned before suddenly realising what that meant. Clearly there had been a kiss and quite understandably Hardison was not supposed to hear about it.

"Duly noted," she told Parker, feeling less words were better in this situation. "Er, actually, when it comes to waking Eliot up, we're not sure how that's going to work. It seems likely he's essentially living inside a literal dream or... potentially, a nightmare," she admitted, "probably without realising that he's no longer in the real world."

Hardison looked momentarily bemused. Parker seemed more impatient than anything else.

"So, how do we fix it?" she asked, arms folded across her chest.

"That's the trickier part," Cassie admitted. "Our knowledge of magic is limited, except for Mr Jenkins, and he's not as good on Greek mythology as in other areas. The best person to help us would be Flynn, but-"

"He ain't here," Hardison noted, shaking his head. "I'm guessing he's someplace you can't just call on a cell phone or track on CCTV?"

"He could be," said Cassie, shifting awkwardly, "but it's equally likely that he's not. I wish he were here. Jake and Ezekiel are doing all they can to track him down."

"Well then, let's see if we can't add all we can do to the mix," said Hardison, pulling a tablet from his back pocket as he headed back to The Annex main room.

Parker hung back a moment, turning back to stare at Eliot's prone form.

Cassie wished she knew what to say to make it better. Poor Parker seemed so broken up over her friend, and yet, just as pained when it came to her supposed boyfriend. Finally, she walked away, muttering to herself, and it was Cassandra's turn to hang back a moment, watching her friend's brother sleep.

"Hold on, Eliot," she said, even though she was already half-certain he couldn't hear her. "We're going to fix this, somehow."

To Be Continued...