Jacob Stone knew how to mind his damned business, and he knew how to keep an eye on Ezekiel and Flynn while still staying in his lane. And that's what he did for the next few weeks. Things seemed to be going well between Flynn and Ezekiel. They made no move to tell the others their secret, and often snuck away together. The others seemed to check it off to them bonding about nerdy things. It was only Jake that knew better. But he said nothing.

Until, of course, he heard rapid knocking on his door one day. He opened it to find Cassandra, looking jittery and wild eyed. She kept looking over her shoulder and bouncing on her heels.

"Jake! Jake! Holy shit, I just saw them! I can't believe it! It tasted like kiwis, that was weird, but it was weird-" She was talking so fast Jake felt his head spin. He held up a hand.

"Woah, woah, Cassie, slow down! What the hell?" He exclaimed. Cassandra blinked at him, and then took a deep breath.

"I saw Ezekiel and Flynn kissing!" She whisper yelled. Jake grimaced.

"Oh. That…" He said, reaching to scratch the back of his head. Cassandra's eyes widened.

"WHAT?!" She practically squealed, with a jerk of her body. "You knew?"

Jake looked either way down the hall, hoping none of his neighbors had heard. Then he grabbed her wrist and pulled her into his apartment, shutting the door behind him.

"You knew they were a thing? How did you know? Why didn't you tell me? What kind of thing are they?" She demanded.

Jake sighed. "Calm down, okay? It's not what you think."

"What I think? I think - I think - I don't know what I think! Is Ezekiel using Flynn or is Flynn using him?" Cassandra wondered, hands flying this way and that as hallucinations of mental images on intercourse statistics started to cloud her vision. Jake reached out and grabbed both her flailing hands, pulling them in between them. Her vision faded back to normal as she focused on him, and then they both took a moment to blush. Then Jake let her hands go, and cleared his throat.

"They aren't - nobody is using anyone, okay? I thought so too, at first. I caught them and I thought Flynn was taking advantage of him." Jake explained. Cassandra put her hand over her mouth.

"You caught them? How did they react?" She asked eagerly. He winced.

"Uh...they still don't know that I know. I panicked and ran. And since then I started watching them, and they were sneaking around behind everyone's backs. So, I went to confront them...but then I kinda ended up spying on them, on a date or whatever, and...I realized I was wrong. They seem to really click. They seem to be good for each other. They're sneaking around just because that's what they want. We should respect that." Jake said, shrugging and nodding his head.

Cassandra drank that information in. "So...they're really a thing? Like, in a relationship?" She asked slowly.

"I'm pretty sure. Not exactly sure how they're labeling it, because I haven't talked to them. Decided to leave it alone." Jake explained.

"But you're sure Ezekiel isn't being hurt?" Cassandra asked, seriously. Jake nodded, and she sagged a little. She adopted a thoughtful expression.

"Well, I guess if they're alright…" She shrugged, and Jake nodded along as her voice trailed on.

"So," She asked, eyes lighting up in interest. "What did you see that made you change your mind?"

Jake couldn't help but get excited. Finally, he had someone to talk to about this shit. It had been driving him crazy for weeks.

Ezekiel woke up to a mouth on his throat, leaving a trail of warm kisses. He felt himself turn warm and fuzzy from the inside out, and he curled up slightly as he flushed. He opened his eyes and grinned, eyes glancing up at the man leaning over him.

"Ticklish?" Flynn asked, raising an eyebrow. Ezekiel just scowled at him, but it had no bite. Flynn grinned winder, a twinkle of a long lost mischievous youth still brightening his eyes.

"Or are you just sensitive?" He questioned. Before Ezekiel could respond, Flynn dove back down and his mouth was on Ezekiel's neck again. But this time, his teeth met his flesh, biting down just enough to make Ezekiel's head roll back with a moan.

When he pulled away, Ezekiel rolled over a bit, huffing. He ran his hand through his hair, body tingling.

"Shit, man, we have to go to work…" He lamented weakly. Flynn just kissed him more insistently, and Ezekiel relaxed like melting butter.

"I thought I was supposed to be the one with the spiked libido…" Ezekiel pondered, as Flynn's mouth moved down his jaw and back to his neck. Flynn chuckled at that, hands moving over Ezekiel's torso in all the ways he liked. Flynn had made it clear early on that he had a goal to memorize everything that made Ezekiel feel good. Not that Ezekiel had any complaints about that .

"Okay, fine, but it's your turn to be the one who comes in even later." Ezekiel conceded, wrapping his arms up around Flynn, flipping them around and straddling him.

Ezekiel pulled his scarf up closer to his jawline as he hurried into the Annex. Flynn had waited behind at Ezekiel's apartment, and he'd be along about twenty minutes after Ezekiel. As not to cause any suspicion.

He came into the large, familiar room to find Jake and Cassandra waiting for him. They were pouring over paperwork, side by side, pressing together way more than research called for. Per usual.

"What are you two lovebirds up to?" Ezekiel called as he approached. They both looked up at him, and then glanced at each other with a slight blush at the term. Jake looked back down at the paperwork, but Cassandra's bright eyes fixated on him.

"Just reading up to get ready for our mission. The clippings book rang while you were out, the big one, so Eve's sending all three of us. There's hauntings reported in a town in Canada, but Jenkins says it sounds like ghouls." Cassandra explained.

"Ghouls, that sounds fun. Haven't met those yet." Ezekiel said. He took a seat next to Cassandra, putting his feet up on the table. He then pulled a rubber ball out of his pocket and started to toss it in the air. Cassandra's eyes flicked to the scarf around Ezekiel's neck, and she remembered what Jake had told her before.

"So, where's Flynn?" She asked, before she could stop herself. Ezekiel froze, blinking at her.

"Why would I know?" He answered, a little too casually. Jake's head whipped towards Cassandra. She had promised not to blow their cover! They weren't supposed to know! Cassandra seemed to realize her mistake, because her eyes widened awkwardly and she laughed, hands starting to flutter in all directions.

"Uh, well, I just thought, you know, you might have run into him by the door or something!" She said nervously, as if it was nothing. Ezekiel gave her a suspicious look for her strange behavior, but seemed to accept the answer.

"Well, I didn't, so...are we gonna get going or what?"

Jake and Cassandra were inspecting one of the "haunted" houses, one that had been abandoned by it's terrified owner. Ezekiel was at town hall, looking up records on all the homeowners being tormented, to see if they had any similarities or common enemies. The minute they were alone, just them in a dusty house with flashlights, Cassandra couldn't take it anymore.

"He is totally hiding hickies under that scarf, I can't believe it! Did he really think we wouldn't notice him wearing so many scarfs in the springtime?" She asked, jumping up and down, giddy with the drama of it all. Jake, more conflicted on the subject of gossip, clenched his jaw and turned on her.

"Well, for one thing, you didn't notice shit until you saw them making out. Secondly, Cassie, c'mon. You seriously need to tone it down like, five notches. Blowing the lid off of this thing is just going to turn everything into a big mess. How could you have been so convincing when you snuck the Serpent Brotherhood past us, but now you can barely keep it together?" Jake demanded, slightly irritated at her behavior. He had been doing perfectly fine keeping this all to himself when it had only been him.

It was obvious the second it came out of his mouth that he had said the wrong thing. At least, he had said it the wrong way. Cassandra's face fell and she grew still, seeming to slump slightly as his words washed over her. Just one sentence, and all the excitement and brightness had dulled into regret and the pain of old wounds. His own heart twisted painfully in remorse and self hatred as he watched. He shouldn't have said that. He hadn't meant to hurt her.

Her face, now solem, didn't falter. She swallowed visibly, clenching her jaw.

"Well, for one thing," Cassandra started, her voice wavering slightly as she mocked him. She puffed her chest out, trying to stand taller.

"That was life and death. This is just harmless gushy drama. Secondly, how many times are you going to turn that against me? I told you you don't get to judge me! Not when you wasted your life based on your own choices!" She exclaimed angrily, but the kind of anger that was just thinly veiled despair and desperation. His throat grew dry and his heart was heavy, but his mind didn't allow him to give way to weakness. He turned away, shaking his head.

"C'mon, let's just focus on the mission. We still haven't checked the attic."

"Ghouls, eh?" Flynn asked, when they were alone in the Annex. The mission had been long, but not particularly difficult. The whole time, however, Jake and Cassandra had been acting weirder than ever. Ezekiel chalked it up to their repressed emotions for each other, and did his best to ignore them. Which proved easy, as the minute they were back, they had both made a beeline for the two different doors without so much as a goodbye. Eve and Jenkins were off in the bowels of the Library, working on some weaknesses in Eve and Ezekiel's new security protocols. That meant that for right now, it was just Flynn and Ezekiel in the Annex, on either side of the Round Table.

"They were pretty vexing." Ezekiel replied, grinning across the table at the other man. Flynn made his way around the table, and Ezekiel waited for his approach, heart hammering. Flynn and Ezekiel had been engaging in this…whatever it was for a good few weeks now. Still, after all that time, his heart couldn't help but pick up pace when the older Librarian got close to him.

Flynn leaned against the table while he faced Ezekiel, their bodies just centimeters apart. Flynn's eyes were cast down, and his head was tilted slightly. He reached out to run his fingers underneath the edge of Ezekiel's jacket, just brushing over his hip. Underneath his jacket, Ezekiel was wearing a rather tight shirt, so he could feel the caress starkly. He shivered, glancing at the doors in fear. He had no idea what he would do if anyone ever found out about…this.

At the same time, all he wanted to do was be closer. He resisted the feeling, however, and focused on reality.

"It wasn't that fun, though. Jake and Cassandra were acting weird the whole time." Ezekiel sighed. "Sometimes it feels like i'm talking to a pair of brick walls, that are too busy pretending there isn't a whole room of bullshit between them."

"They'll work past it." Flynn tried to say hopefully, giving Ezekiel a smile. "In the meanwhile, how about we get out of here?"

Ezekiel wasn't sure he'd ever be able to get used to the feeling of having people to come back to every time he stepped through a door. And now, having someone to come home to? He felt like he was walking around in a daze, high off of the release from his loneliness. When was the last time he'd had someone to wake up to? Someone to be close to?

Jake took a deep breath, and knocked on the smooth red door in front of him. It took Cassandra just two knocks to answer the door, and Jake quickly pulled his hand away. She blinked at him, and visibly clenched her jaw.

"Jake! What are you doing here?" She asked, sounding concerned. "Is something wrong?"

"No, everything's fine. I mean. Somethin wrong but not at the Library, nothing bad bad. Something wrong with me." Jake attempted to clarify. Cassandra raised her eyebrow.

"Wrong? What do you meant?" She asked, glancing up and down the hall.

"Look- " He took another deep breath. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I shouldn't keep lashing out at you like I did. I understand why you did and I don't like it still, but I promised myself it wouldn't come between our relationship." He said, somewhat breathlessly. Like it took tremendous effort. Cassandra's eyes widened slightly.

"Our...relationship?" She asked, voice trailing off in a manner he knew he couldn't avoid. Jake's heart trembled, and he turned his head away from her questioning gaze. He couldn't answer that. Not now. Things just - things weren't right. He wasn't right.

Cassandra didn't seem keen to take that as a no, so she stepped closer to him, reaching out. His heart skipped a beat at her proximity, and he stepped back. Cassandra stopped, a disappointed expression on her face. He just stared at the space between them, probably pale with how terrified he was.

"I'm sorry. I have to go." He said hoarsely, before turning and disappearing down the hallway. Cassandra watched her fellow Librarian walk away with a heavy heart.

"Where's Flynn?" Eve asked, as she and Cassandra walked into the room. Jenkins, Moriarty and Jake were studying an ancient tapestry together, turning to the girls as they entered.

"I believe he left with Mr. Jones on an errand." Moriarty said coolly, turning back to the tapestry. Jenkins' gaze followed, but Jake's didn't. Jake and Cassandra locked eyes, having a silent conversation.

Eve moved over to where the boys were and asked them what they'd learned so far, but they were soon interrupted.

"Actuuuaallyyy…" Cassandra started to say, folding her hands in front of her in mock innocence. "Jake and I had something to go check up on, you think you can handle this thing without him?" She asked.

Jake whipped to stare at her, silently trying to tell her hell no, but she paid it no mind.

"Yeah, sure, we'll be fine." Eve said, waving them away. Cassandra grinned in triumph at Jake, who opened and closed his mouth. He realized he had two options - go along with Cassandra on her plan to spy, or deny her and raise suspicion about the whole situation. God damnit. Why did he get into these situations?

Admitting defeat, he grabbed his coat and sighed. Jake grumpily followed Cassandra as she skipped out the back door, muttering his woes. This wasn't going to end well, unless he could keep her from blowing everything up. Ezekiel and Flynn had gone to New York, a place extremely familiar to Cassandra. She managed to pick up their trail in almost no time.

"They're obviously not here on a mission, unless there's a case here that involves eating dinner at a five star restaurant." Cassandra announced, as they watched Flynn and Ezekiel enter a glowing restaurant entrance together. They where all the way down the street, in the outdoor section of a nearby bar. The sun had already set, and the stars were starting to grace the sky.

"Well, mystery solved, they're on a nice romantic date. Can we go home now? I've got manuscripts to translate!" Jake complained, glowering unhappily down into his Blue Moon. Cassandra turned to look at him over her shoulder in what seemed to be a mixture of disbelief and eager desperation.

"Oh, come on, Jake! You already got to see them being cute together! You already got to spy on them! And now you're saying I can't because you're so much better than me?" Cassandra demanded. Jake looked up at her, furrowing his brows.

"What? I'm not - I've never said I was better than you!" He exclaimed. Cassandra looked away, pursuing her lips.

"You sure act like it…" She said, not as under her breath as it was supposed to be. Jake felt guilt rise up in him, manifesting in the will to prove himself. He chugged the rest of his beer and slammed it down on the table as he stood up, raring to go.

"C'mon, i've got a plan." He told her in determination. Her eyes lit up, and she hopped to her feet in glee. Jake suddenly felt a rush of excitement and affection, and he took her hand without thinking about it. She squeezed it, and he lead her out of the bar, light on their feet. Nothing brings people together more than some good natured spying on their mutual friend.

"So, what's this great plan of yours? Are we going to sneak into the kitchen and dress up as waiters?" She asked, as they headed towards the doors. Jake stopped them just outside the door, peering in the glass to assess the situation. Yup, he was right. It was one of those restaurants that had a bunch of wooden dividers up between tables, to give diners privacy. The wooden dividers where thin and orange tinted, with a lattice on top that was interlaced with flowering vines. Damn, this was a nice place. Jake momentarily wondered who paid the bill at the end of the night, but he quickly extinguished that line of thought.

"No, they'll see our faces if we try to wait them. See, they're getting seated over there," Jake pointed towards the far east corner of the restaurant, where he could barely spy the waiter leading the shapes of his friends between the maze of dividers.

"There's tons of empty places around them. We'll go in once they're seated, pay the seater extra to seat us next to them, make sure they don't see us while we go over there, and then listen through the divider. It's easy to hear other people's conversations if you're near them and focused on it. As long as they never see or hear us, we should be fine." Jake explained. Cassandra was pressed close to him as she craned to spy at the scene over his shoulder.

"I love it! But isn't this place super expensive?" She asked. Jake turned to look at her, shrugging.

"We get paid enough at the Library, and I haven't really been spending much of that. I can splurge on a dual purposed dinner for a beautiful woman." He said, smiling and giving her a slightly charming inclination of his head, which would have probably been more effective had be been wearing a cowboy hat. Nevertheless, Cassandra stepped back from him and blushed, her face hot against the cold New York evening air.

"We better change, first. There's a place down the street, and I have my credit card." Cassandra said. This time, she grabbed Jake's hand, and they quickly headed down the street and around the corner. Around twenty minutes later, they were walking back around the corner in much nicer clothes. Jake busied himself with making sure all the tags were off their clothes, while Cassandra struggled to pin her hair up quickly. She pulled her new tight purple dress down before they walked into the door arm in arm.

"A table for two," Jake asked the man with a pleasant smile. He reached out and shook his hand, slipping a twenty into his palm. "Over there in the corner, where it's a little dimmer. Good lighting is hard to find, you know?"

The seater slipped the twenty in his pocket with a slight air of surprise. Jake panicked internally, wondering if that was the proper amount to bribe someone to be seated. Whatever, he could be generous. Either way, it got them what they wanted. They kept quiet while the gangly man lead them to the far eastern corner, and Jake was relieved when they were seated just on the other side of the divider from where he was pretty sure Ezekiel and Flynn were sitting.

Once the seater left them to make their meal choices, Cassandra moved over to Jake's side of the table.

"You're closer to them." She whispered to him, as way of explanation. With that, they leaned closer to the divider, straining to hear.

"...you sure you don't want to dine and dash? I have like, three escape routes already worked out." Ezekiel seemed to be in the middle of suggesting. Classic Ezekiel.

"These people work hard, Jones." Flynn said primly. "Besides, I've got more money than a man like me needs. And you love to spend money, you know you do."

"Guilty as charged." Ezekiel said with an air of smugness.

"This place is to die for. I would know." Ezekiel added, in a tone as if it was a clever joke. Jake's eyebrows furrowed. Had he meant what Jake thought he'd meant? Cassandra's expression didn't show any interest in the statement, but maybe she was just concentrated. They were rather hard to hear.

"Cheers to that." Flynn said, and the slight clink of two glasses rang out.

"I guess we are two peas in a pod. While, three. Eve came pretty close too." Ezekiel considered.

"Well, it's not really the same level. Eve and I, we came close to death, only to be pulled back. But you went the full mile, and came back. Which still blows my mind. You truly are extraordinary." Flynn said, and his voice adopted the same air it had when he was talking about some magical or historical marvel. Cassandra and Jake exchanged a heavy glance.

"No, i'm not. I'm just a millennial. Who better to beat a video game?" Ezekiel asked nonchalantly, trying to pass away the praise.

"It's more than that and you know it. You're special." Flynn said, softer than usual. There was a beat of silence.

"Not to say me and Eve aren't also special...you know what I meant…" Flynn tried to salvage. Another beat of silence.

"Do you miss her?" Ezekiel asked quietly.

"Eve?" Flynn asked. "Yes. But not in the way most people would think. I still care about her, and I'm somewhat ashamed of screwing that up so badly...but i've moved on, I think. I'm glad she's happy. Even if it's with Moriarty." Flynn said the last name with a ring of contempt, and Ezekiel chuckled.

"Oh, shut up. If Eve wasn't dating him, you would be and you know it." Ezekiel huffed. Flynn made a slightly flustered sound.

"I - he - well, whatever. I don't know. It's still all a bit confusing." Flynn conceded.

"Well, you have me until you figure it out at least." Ezekiel replied. The scraping of forks against plates stopped on Flynn's side.

(At this point in time, Flynn reached across the table and held Ezekiel's hand in his. Now, Jake and Cassandra can't see this, but I felt like it's something you needed to know.)

"You know that's not the reason i'm...doing this, whatever it is, with you, right? You're not just some rebound. Not that that's a bad thing, I mean - that's just not what this is." Flynn said, slowly, searching for reassurance.

"I know that." Ezekiel replied, too quickly. Yet another beat of heavy silence followed. Cassandra wiggled her eyebrows at Jake enticingly. Obviously, she was enjoying herself.

Then, they started to speak again, but they did it lowly, as if they were leaning over and whispering to each other. Cassandra frowned. Before Jake could stop her, she was standing up and edging closer to the divider.

Jake tried to wave her to sit back down, and they started to silently argue. But this only proved to be their downfall, as Cassandra swung her arm too far while gesturing at him, and lost her balance. Jake watched in horror as she staggered heavily into the thin wooden divider, causing it to teeter. Then it slowly started to groan as it fell towards Flynn and Ezekiel's side.

Flynn was sitting opposite the divider, and Ezekiel had his back to it. So when it started to fall , Flynn noticed it, while Ezekiel just kept eating his shrimp dish. Flynn instantly knew he wouldn't have enough time to convey the situation to Ezekiel right now, so he just got up as quickly as he could, whipping around the table to grab Ezekiel's jacket and yank him up. Ezekiel yelped in confusion as Flynn started to drag him, keeping his plate and his fork in his hand as he followed the movement. Just as Ezekiel was clear of the divider's path, it hastened in it's last half of an arc, and crashed into the table loudly. The whole restaurant fell dead silent.

Flynn and a disheveled Ezekiel stood dumbfounded, staring down at the divider. Then they both looked up at the two people on the other side, who were frozen in guilt and horror. Cassandra, standing closest to where the divider used to be, nervously started to laugh.

"Flynn! Ezekiel! Wow, what a coincidence meeting you here!" She exclaimed, her voice cracking. Ezekiel narrowed his eyes at them, face twisting up in offense and disbelief. Flynn looked pale, and started looking in all directions as patrons started to rise up, trying to peer over their own dividers to see what the commotion was.

"How about we take one of those escape routes we were talking about, and then we can talk about how you were obviously spying on us." Flynn suggested, pointing towards the swinging door to the kitchen with one hand, and to the angry security guard approaching them with his other hand.

Nobody needed to be told twice. They all broke off into a run, rushing out through the kitchen and racing away through the city. Once they were clear, they slowed down, all gasping for breath. Ezekiel straightened his jacket, and then rounded on the other two LITs.

"What the hell were you doing?" He demanded. Cassandra and Jake exchanged a wide eyed glance. And then they both started talking a mile a minute.

"It was her idea!'

"He did it first!"

"Yeah but I stopped, you wanted to come this time-"

"You didn't have to come with me!"

"You didn't give me a choice!"

"Wow, I wonder what that feels like!"

"Hey hey hey, calm down!" Flynn exclaimed over their arguing, causing them both to snap their mouths shut.

"Why were you following us?" Ezekiel demanded again, crossing his arms. Cassandra sighed, shoulders sagging.

"Okay, it was all me. I saw you guys kissing the other day. I wanted to see what you were like when you were together because I know you're probably not going to like, come out, or whatever, for a while... But Jake's known for like, waaaayy longer, so..." She added, as if this would somehow help her.

"Wait, you've known for how long?" Flynn asked Jake, while Ezekiel's face turned redder and redder.
Jake couldn't bear to look them in the eyes as he nervously rubbed the back of his neck.

"A while ago, I thought you guys were acting weird, you know, after the mission to Florida you went on...I knew something was up so I followed you, and I saw you guys together, you know, dating or whatever, so I left it alone because that's your business." Jake explained.

"Yes, it is our business. You followed us around because we were getting along? Thanks, mate, really says a lot about what you think of me. Think I have to be fucking someone to get along with them?" Ezekiel demanded. Jake set his shoulders back.

"No, but I do think you have to be getting along with someone to fuck them. Which is why I left it alone. The only reason I followed you in the first place was because I was worried about you!" Jake exclaimed, taking a step towards Ezekiel. Ezekiel scoffed.

"Why would you be worried about me?" Ezekiel asked. Could he really be that oblivious.

"Because I care about you, you idiot!" Jake was practically shouting now. Silence fell, as Jake took a deep breath, and Ezekiel just stared at him. Ezekiel blinked. Then he looked down at his feet, before looking over at Flynn.

"So you're...fine with...this?" He asked, turning his attention back to Jake and Cassandra.

"Yeah. I mean, it's unexpected, but, you seem...happy...or whatever, so...yeah." Jake said, stumbling over his own words. But his sentiment was true. Cassandra nodded alongside him enthusiastically. She looked downright excited.

"So are you two…?" Flynn piped up curiously, gesturing between Jake and Cassandra. The two of them blushed simultaneously, and Ezekiel rolled his eyes.

"Oh my god, dude, don't even. Don't even make them answer that. It'll get you nowhere. Let them figure it out." Ezekiel cut in, turning towards Flynn and putting a hand on his shoulder before anyone could think to respond. Flynn pursed his lips and nodded in understanding. Jake tried to swallow past the lump in his throat, now acutely aware of Cassandra's presence next to him. But he was too afraid to look over.

"So, uh, anyways...should we all get going? We'll say we dealt with whatever we dealt with, and maybe we can talk about this more tomorrow?" Flynn suggested.

"Sounds like a plan to me." Jake said, somewhat dryly.

"Lead the way!" Cassandra replied enthusiastically, eager to return to her apartment and sleep off all of this embarrassment.