It is a typical day in the Annex. Baird is at her desk mumbling about how untidy it is, Ezekiel is sneaking around the place with something suspicious behind his back, and Jenkins is...well, Jenkins is doing whatever it is that he does.
But today is a different day. This day is special because this is the day Cassandra loses her mind. It doesn't begin in the morning. It begins with a shout, an adventure, and a mistake.
"Dammit!" Jenkins yells as he starts running up the staircase to the second floor of the Annex. He starts going through aisle after aisle of books, skimming each one with his fingertips, frantically muttering the authors' names.
"And what is it that you're doing, Jenkins?" Baird hesitates to ask.
She starts debating whether or not she should ask him what exactly is going on, but she doesn't have time to think on it further before he starts yelling again.
"Well, Colonal, I hope you like literature," he states while throwing a book on the table.
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"I am talking about this." He points to the book on the table as Eve and Ezekiel start walking over to see the object Jenkins seems so fascinated with. Once they see the book, Baird sighs,crossing her arms, and Ezekiel instantly grins.
"We're going to Narnia? Narnia is real?" Ezekiel asks excitedly.
"No, Narnia isn't real! But the words are."
"Cause that makes sense," Baird mutters.
"Are you aware of the Gutenberg printing press, Ms. Baird?"
Jenkins looks up at the blonde impatiently while she looks around the room and frowns.
"Where the hell is Stone? We need him right now."
Ezekeil shrugs as Jenkins rolls his eyes and continues. "We don't have time for that, Ms. Baird. Of course you don't know who Gutenberg was."
"He invented the printing press," she spits in offense.
"Yes, and…?"
"And what?"
"He was also a Librarian?" Ezekiel says sarcastically. He always hated when Jenkins and Eve fought. He felt like he was a kid again at this grandparents' house. They always fought and it constantly annoyed him. Someday he is going to voice that opinion to them, but for now he wants to live and he knows Baird would kill him if he said anything like that.
Jenkins stares at the thief in annoyance. "Lucky guess."
"Are you serious? I was right and Baird was wrong?" Ezekiel shouts with glee.
"Not the point!" Jenkins yells "The point is that he invented a printing system to help keep in contact with his Guardian in case they were separated. "It worked until the Serpent Brotherhood found out about it in the sixteenth century. I was surprised Dulaque was oblivious about it until then, but as soon as he found out about it he created a quill and gave it to Shakespeare."
"Of course he did," Baird mutters.
"How do you think his plays became so famous? The quill brought certain things to life and the magic got out of control."
Ezekiel was starting to doze off. He was trying his best to stand and sleep at the same time, but it was useless when it came to the old geezer who lived in the Annex. Jenkins had seen what was going on, got a ruler, and smacked him over the head.
"Pay attention! You're going to have to go into the book!"
"But why?" Ezekiel whines as he rubs his head.
"Because the magic got out of control and the only way to control it was to conceal it in the words. We thought once typewriters came out we could control it into the keys. We were wrong."
"You were wrong?" Ezekiel gasps.
"So what does that have to do with C.S Lewis?" Baird yells.
"One of the idiot Librarians didn't realize that once you type on the typewriter the magic is printed onto that page, forever. So he gave it to his buddy Lewis, who created a monster. But since it's in the words no one can get into it. The first addition is the one with most of the magic."
Both the Australian and Guardian looked at each other in confusion.
"The Serpent Brotherhood believe that they have figured out a way to bring all the dark magic in the book to life."
"And how do you know this?" Baird asks.
"Because unlike you, Ms. Baird. I do my research. That, and I know a guy," Jenkins states while he walks out of the room.
Ezekiel sighs and rubs his head some more. Today was a Saturday; Why do they have to jump into a book today? Stone and Cassandra weren't even there, so why did he have to do it?
"This doesn't seem like a big deal. Why are you getting your knickers in a twist, Jenkins?"
The white haired man walks back into the room with what look like a glass funnel and wristwatches.
"I have just enough wristwatches for all four of you-"
The outside doors burst open as a disheveled Jacob Stone walks in. His hair seemed to be more in a mess than usual and his face was all scruffy. He looks like he hasn't shaved or taken a shower in a few days. He didn't seem to be paying attention as he walked past the three people staring at him with questionable looks on their faces.
"We're going to Narnia," Ezekiel shouted hoping to get the cowboy's attention.
"No, we are not. We are going into a book to fight off dark magic that the words have consumed in the book!" Baird stopped herself and instantly shook her head. "I wish we were going to Narnia. That would make more sense."
"Oh, cool," Stone says softly while staring at the table.
Everyone's attention was only at Stone and his odd behavior. No one heard quiet footsteps come out from Jenkins's office.
"What are we all looking at?" Cassandra asked curiously.
Every head turned toward the sound of Cassandra's voice. No one spoke a word as Eve, Ezekiel, and Jenkins looked from Jacob to Cassandra. They could sense something happened between the two, but didn't ask any questions because time was running out and they needed to get in the book soon.
"If you were here sooner you would know, but we need to go into this book and defeat evil word magic. Right, Jenkins?" Baird asks as she starts shoving a watch into everyone's hands.
"Essentially, yes, that is what you will be doing," Jenkins replies. "Now, once you have your watch, set it to 1:30. You will only be in there for an hour and thirty minutes. Once the time is up you will be spit back out of the book, got it?"
"I want to go and help!' Cassandra yells. "I'm tired of sitting on the sidelines."
"There is no way in hell you're going into that book." Jacob sneers, eyeing the redhead's swollen belly.
"Don't be so mean," Cassandra states while crossing her arms. "The doctor said I could go to work."
"The doctor doesn't know what your job requires on a daily basis!"
Baird sighs as she looks between them. Did she ever think the art historian would accidentally knock up the math girl?
Not this soon.
They had just started dating when Baird got the call from a very freaked out Cassandra telling her she thought she might be pregnant.
"Last year I had to go to the hospital to get my tumor out. I don't want to go back again. Besides, what do I do with a baby?"
The Guardian had to convince her that she needed to tell Stone, which through kicking and screaming Cassandra finally did, and the two lovebirds have been bickering ever since.
"Cassandra stay here with Jenkins," she commands. "Please."
The redhead sighs as she goes to sit at the table in the middle of the Annex. She was due any day now and she practically waddled every where she went.
Jenkins glares at the very pregnant woman while handing out the watches. Once everyone started syncing their watches together, Jacob and Cassandra seemed to come back to reality. They start asking the simplest of questions about the mission, but are interrupted by Jenkins yelling, "Put your watches together and stand over the glass funnel, now!"
Everyone's hands touched and a great golden light appeared. It covered everyone and with a flash, turned them all into tiny specs that went through the funnel, dissolving onto the book.
Once everyone was inside the novel Cassandra gets from her chair and gathers different kinds of books, slamming them on the table.
"You know, Jenkins, everyone thought I couldn't handle emotional trauma because of my," she points to her head, "brain grape, but now that it's gone I'm practically a porcelain doll to everyone."
Jenkins watches in silence as the redheaded woman waddle-stomps around the Annex, finding more books to throw on the main table.
"They think I'm some science experiment!" She stops and looks down at her stomach. "Well, I guess I am to some extent, but that's not the point! The point is just because I'm having a baby does not mean I am happy about it or that I should automatically get married!"
She huffs out a giant breath and slams the last book in her hands down, staring out at all the literature she has gathered.
"I am guessing that Mr. Stone asked for your hand in marriage again?" Jenkins finally pipes up.
"More like said we needed to! The baby needs a proper family? Well, we're living together, how much more of a family can you get?"
Neither spoke for a moment. The only noise being made was the ruffling sounds of the papers that Jenkins was moving on the table.
Cassandra looked up to see what Jenkins was doing when a slight stabbing pain went through her abdomen. She froze as she counted how long the pain lasted. It wasn't that long. The baby wasn't coming. No, siree, that baby was staying in there.
"Are you against marriage, Ms. Cillian?" Jenkins asks.
Cassandra rolls her eyes and looks to the book that her coworkers are in.
"Not really. I mean, I get both sides of the argument. Love doesn't need to be signed on a piece of paper, but being committed to the one person you are in love with does seem nice." She sighs as she picks up the book she was looking for. "I guess I want him to actually ask because he wants to, not because he accidentally got me pregnant."
She slams the book on the table again. "Do you know what he said to me when I told him I was pregnant? I don't even like babies and look at me now, Jenkins!" she exclaims, circling her arms around her protruding belly. "He apologized to me, like us sleeping together was a mistake! Then he apologized for apologizing and then he asked for my hand in marriage. The nerve!"
Jenkins looks at her as she freezes in place. He starts walking over to her, concerned, but she shrugs it off as indigestion.
"Ms. Cillian, I do not know Mr. Stone as well as you do," he states while eyeing her stomach, "but I do believe the man is very old fashioned. I'm sure he apologized for being foolish and getting you pregnant unintentionally."
"Yes, he did do exactly that and I know that," she sighs "I just feel like his proposals are not sincere. And now because I've rejected him so much he believes that I don't love him as much as he loves me! Can you believe that?"
"Well I-"
"I can't figure out babies. What is their big secret code anyway? Why do people like them all the time? They're too complicated, they get bigger, they are all slobbery, and they could grow up to kill me, Jenkins!"
The older man sighs as he rubs his forehead. This day was going to be long. Being left behind with an overly stressed pregnant Librarian was not what he had planned.
"Whoop!" Cassandra squeaks. She was holding her stomach gently and started taking deep breaths.
Jenkins's head shot up as he watched the redhead hiss in pain.
"Are you alright Ms. Cillian," he asks cautiously.
"Of course!" Cassandra whimpers "Why would I not be?"
But a second later, she mutters, "Oh, no," as she realizes that her water has broken.
"This isn't happening. I'm imagining this. I'm in a nightmare!"
Jenkins walks over to Cassandra calmly. He opens his mouth to guide her toward the Annex's doors, but the doors were opening already.
"So, what have I missed?" Flynn asks, walking in wearing both a sombrero and lederhosen.
Jenkins looks at him exasperatedly and gestures to Cassandra.
"Ah, right! Pregnant! Baby! Cassandra, you are...much larger than last time I was here," Flynn comments.
"Thanks," Cassandra replies dryly through the pain.
"Mr. Carsen, will you please accompany Ms. Cillian to the hospital. I am afraid she is going to have this baby soon."
"No, I am not," she says, ripping Jenkins's hands away from her. "I'm not having this baby yet because Jake isn't here and he said he would be."
"Jake?" Flynn asks, then shakes his head. "That's right. Stone's baby. I'm still trying to wrap my head around that, honestly."
"I have to be here for when the others get back," says Jenkins. "Now, Cassandra, you are going through those doors and to the hospital right now!"
Cassandra whimpers as she slowly nods her head. She walks towards the door, grabs Flynn's hand, and leaves the Annex.