Maggie Winnock had skipped class. This was almost too much for Jasper to process. He counted the occurrence among portents and omens of impending doom. It was in the same league as famine and plague, two of the seven signs of the apocalypse. He truly wasn't expecting to find survivors when he finally caught up with Maggie and her prey.

He wasn't surprised to find her in the Doum rooms with Henry. He was surprised to find him still breathing and enveloped in such a cozy setting with the young woman that had wanted to eviscerated him less than an hour ago. They were sitting close together and seemed to be involved in a serious discussion. He took a moment to watch them, noting their body language.

Henry was angled towards Maggie while she leaned in. Their knees were touching and every so often their shoulders or hands would brush together. Jasper felt both elation and a bit of sadness as he watched them. He'd known Maggie a long time, and despite their differences she'd come to mean a lot to him. He'd even believed himself in love with her once, but he now knew that had not been the case.

Jasper had been infatuated with her. She was smart, beautiful, and brave, and the truth be told as much as he'd been fascinated by her, she'd also terrified him. He loved competing with her, arguing with her, and they'd always had fun together, but in the long run he knew…he couldn't handle her. Besides, he'd always suspected that she'd been infatuated with Henry pretty much since the day they'd met. She could fling all the haughty disdain she wanted, but his cousin had gotten under her skin.

Henry had stayed there too. No matter how many times she'd scratched, denied, ignored, and dismissed him. Henry remained.

His cousin had wrestled crocodiles in Australia, scaled vertical peaks wearing nothing but a loin cloth, outrun big cats intent on making him dinner, thwarted poachers, caught murders, rescued hikers, and generally done every harrowing, heroic deed on the planet. He was perhaps the only one on earth who could handle Maggie Winnock and not let her walk all over him.

When it had become apparent that Henry returned Maggie's feelings, Jasper had decided that he was cool with it. Part of him would always love Maggie, but he was man enough to admit that she would eat him alive and then pick her teeth with his bones. Grinning at the image he cleared his throat and watched in amusement as they jumped apart.

Both his cousin and his best friend flushed in embarrassment.

"You know if you'd wanted a place to play footsie, I hear the janitor's closet is nice this time of year. You can barely smell the antiseptic odor of solvent if you fool around under the air conditioning vent."

Maggie turned red and glared at him and Henry looked confused as per usual. "What's footsie?"

Jasper smirked. He could always count on his clueless cousin to pick out the most potentially embarrassing aspect of a sentence and ask him to explain further. Sometimes it was almost too easy.

"Mags, would you care to elaborate?" Her eyes promised retribution while her face turned an even brighter shade of red. She was starting to look like a tomato.

"You are going to pay, Jasper Bartlett. When you least expect it, I can assure you that you will pay," she whispered under her breath.

Maggie had that look about her, the one that promised a slow, excruciatingly painful death. Jasper had to admit that he was a little freaked but he wouldn't allow himself to show it. The minute he showed weakness she would pounce. Henry, bless his primitive little heart, still looked befuddled.

"Why are you red, Maggie?" She blushed even brighter, if such a thing were even humanly possible.

"Well, you see…that is…" She trailed off and narrowed her eyes at Jasper. "You're cousin can explain since he is the one that brought it up."

Jasper's smirk turned evil. "Footsie: the technical definition is the flirtatious playing of feet beneath a table, but it's also another way of implying making out."

Henry looked even more confused. "Making out?"

Maggie had finally had enough. "Jasper you're just making things worse, and Henry making out is when a romantically attached couple does sexual things to each other but stops short of having sex."

She managed to get that out but she wouldn't look at him. Jasper of course felt the need to add. "You know, kissing, groping each other in inappropriate places…stuff like that."

"Oh well, why didn't you just say so? I am already well versed in making out, of course I was almost killed because of it…"

Both Jasper and Maggie froze; their jaws agape. Maggie was the first to recovery. "How…when?...Henry what do you mean you're well versed?"

He shrugged, nonchalant. "My parents traveled with the Bedouin when I was thirteen. The tribe we were traveling with took refuge on this sheik's lands when a sand storm hit us. I got lost in it and accidentally stumbled into his harem. There were a few girls there that weren't much older than I was and apparently they found me attractive. They taught me a few things about kissing and gave me some tips on how to please a woman. The sheik was mad though. He wanted to turn me into a eunuch. Luckily I got away before that could happen. It was a most fascinating experience though."

Jasper looked at his cousin with new found respect while Maggie…well she was less than thrilled. She found herself wondering just what kinds of tips those hussies gave him and if he used those techniques on them. She was also, dare she think it, jealous, which was ridiculous in the extreme. The naughtier part of her, the one that she was actively trying to ignore, wondered what it might be like if Henry decided to use that knowledge on her. Her body was quite enthusiastic about the idea while her brain ruthless crushed that line of thought.

She couldn't help but spat. "You know as much as I loved to hear you brag about your sexual prowess perhaps we could get back to more important things. Like say, I don't know; your insane theory about the pending apocalypse."

Jasper snapped his fingers. "That reminds me. You've got to see what I found in the online library journals. Here let me show you." Jasper pulled a sheath of printed papers out of his bag.

Henry frowned, puzzled, and took the papers from him. He looked at the title and looked back up at his cousin, startled. "This is Dr. Sorreson's doctoral thesis."

Jasper nodded. "Circa nineteen sixty-one."

Henry smoothed the pages out on the desk and started to read. He was very aware when Maggie moved up behind him to read over his shoulder. All this talk of making out had made him even more hyper aware of her then usual. He lost his place as her unique scent surrounded him. He breathed deep, taking it in, and almost gave in to the urge to close his eyes. He was brought back to reality when she leaned forward and he felt the swell of her breast against his shoulder.

"This paper is about doomsday cults. He's followed every major reveled religion as well as some obscure tribal rituals and ancient rights. He ties everything to the Aztec calendar and the fifty-two year cycle. He states here that the Mexica people believed that a great battle was fought, requiring many sacrifices, every fifty two years that the sun moved across the sky. It was the sun's weakest time and had the greatest chance for darkness to win and overthrow the sun."

Henry felt her move against him. In his elevated state of awareness it was torture. He choked out.

"Is this anything like the twenty twelve myth? The one that states the calendar will end in November of that year and with it the world?"

Maggie shook her head, 'no.' "That myth is based on the Mayan calendar. The Aztec calendar is different. Besides, this idea that the sun is going to wink out is ludicrous in the extreme. It doesn't have enough mass to explode in a supernova and it won't evolve into a red giant for another five billion years."

Henry swallowed past the lump in his throat, gathered all the meditating skills he had, and ignored Maggie's body brushing against his own. It was surprisingly difficult. She was barely touching him, like a whisper against skin, but he felt it down to his core.

"Regardless, this cult that Dr. Sorreson is hinting at doesn't believe in science. It believes in the power of blood sacrifice. Whether you believe they have the power to end the world or not is beside the point. What matters is, if what Dr. Sorreson says here is true, they are going to try. Someone is going to end up dead; maybe a lot of someones."

Maggie moved away from him to pace. He breathed a sigh of relief. She cocked her head to the side and regarded him. "You sound as if you believe this crazy theory about the end of the world."

Henry swiveled the chair to look at her, keeping his groin hidden under the desk. It wouldn't do for her to see how much she'd affected him.

"I've seen a lot of things throughout my life that cannot be explained by science. I've leaned not to discount anything as impossible; even the idea of a god's essence being trapped in an idol."

Jasper piped in. "You've got to admit though, Henry. It doesn't seem likely."

Henry turned back towards the paper. "Likely or not, Dr. Sorreson believed in it enough to dedicate his entire life to finding that jaguar. We have to get it back for him."

Maggie looked like she wanted to argue some more but at the look Jasper gave her, she clamped her lips shut. Instead she said. "We don't even know if it was the jaguar that was taken. No one can confirm it. I even checked with a friend of my father's that is on the museum board. Dr. Sorreson was very secretive about this display. He even had an outside security agency set it up. It was highly unusual but due to his spotless reputation they museum allowed him to set up the display without revealing its contents. The case could have held anything."

"I knew Dr. Sorreson. The jaguar was the only thing he would be so secretive about. He was both in awe of it and frightened of it. He would have considered it dangerous and at the same time, after a lifetime of searching, I don't think he could help himself not to reveal the accomplishment to the world. He would have taken every precaution to mitigate the danger."

Maggie nodded, thoughtful. "So what's our next move?"

Henry regarded his friend and his cousin steadily. "Breaking and entering. We need to find Dr. Sorreson's temporary office and confirm that it was the jaguar in that display case and find out exactly what he'd discovered about it and the cult."

Maggie rolled her eyes. "I'm going to assume that you are going to need my access card for this."

He nodded. "Yes, sorry Maggie."

She sighed. "It's amazing that we all haven't ended up in jail."

It was Jasper who answered, a wicked smirk curving his lips. "I'm sure if you ask nicely they will let you and Henry share a cot. He can show you what he learned from his harem girls."

"Jasper!" she cried, outraged. He sprinted away, laughing and she gave chase. "Ohhh, come back here! Jasper Bartlett you are in so much trouble!"

Henry watched his friends go and the looked down at the little problem that had grown larger at Jasper's teasing suggestion. He closed his eyes and groaned.

Maggie Winnock was going to be the death of him.