"Damn! We are good.." Ezekiel grinned as he walked through the backdoor, "Who feels like take out? Hell! I'll buy!"

Following behind him was Eve Baird, wearing her signature disapproving smile, "Define good? Is getting your ass handed to you by a bunch of teenagers good?"

"Hey. They were at least six foot four. And huge. And I don't do punchy." He shrugged it off.

"Are you kidding? They were some of the scrawniest kids I've ever met." Jake joined in.

Cassandra followed behind quietly. Over the past year, she had grown accustomed to the group's bickering, and she loved it. She shared a quick look with Jenkins, who also appeared to be amused.

"Maybe, but they were devil worshipers. They had some weird voodoo powers." Ezekiel tried to defend himself.

"They weren't devil worshipers." Jenkins intervened, "The were..."

But his voice trailed off. In fact... everything did. Voices, smells, colors. It all faded away. Except for one.

"You alright, Cass?"

Before she could respond, she blacked out.

As she started to collapse, Jake quickly jogged over to catch her before she could hit the floor, gently kneeling on the floor with her.

"Cass? Cassie?" He gently tapped her cheek, only to find that he would get no response.

"Jenkins?" Eve called out as she joined them on the floor.

"On it!" Ezekiel and Jenkins got to work on quickly reactivating the back door.

"Come on, Cassie..." Jake muttered as he tried to bring her back to consciousness.


She awoke several hours later. Her head was throbbing, and the strong scent of bleach invaded her nose.

"Hello? You there?" A voice called to her.

"F-Flynn?" She groaned as she tried to keep her eyelids open. "How did you get here?"

She looked around. Where is here?

"I came as soon as I heard. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. You didn't have to come all the way back." She tried to force herself into a sitting position, but that didn't last long as she fell back onto the bed, "W-where are we?"

"The hospital." Ezekiel nodded.

"Which one?" the redhead blinked a few times, waiting for her vision to become clear.

"Jenkins said it was in Minnesota." Eve's voice was heard.

"Mayo Clinic?" Ezekiel added in.

Slowly, she could see the forms of all her friends. And soon after that, their faces and details came to view. She smiled some as she looked at all her friends.

All except one.

"Where's Jake?"

Eve looked to Ezekiel before carefully replying, "He's back with Jenkins. He said something about not being able to stand hospitals."

Cassandra's face fell for a second before quickly picking herself back up. She didn't want her other friends to think that they were not enough.

"That's okay. I hate them too." She tried to joke.

A few minutes passed, mostly everyone question Flynn on his findings. He assured them that he hadn't found the library yet, but he could feel that he was getting closer to it. Cassandra, of course, apologized and insisted that he didn't have to come and see her. She was fine.

However, when the doctor walked into the room, the look on his face corrected her.

She was not fine.


Back at the Library, or well the branch facility, or Annex. Whatever you want to call it. Jake sat with his head in his hands.

Useless. All these damn books were useless.

He took the book from his lap and threw it, not caring which direction it flew. He picked up the next book from the mountain beside him.

How long had he been here? An hour? Two days? He couldn't tell.

"Quite a mess." Flynn's voice traveled as he walked up the steps.

"How long?" Jake could barely growl out. His voice was hoarse and scratchy. He figured it was probably two days.

"She asked where you were." The older man avoided his question.

"How long, Flynn?" He repeated himself.

With a heavy sigh, finally answered, "Six weeks. Two months tops."

He expected more of a reaction. He expected Jake to throw more books or punch a wall. But he didn't. He sat there, processing the information., and to be honest. Flynn wasn't sure which thought scared him more. The silence dragged on between them.

"I'm going to find something." Jake reached for another book.

"You think I haven't tried?" Flynn asked him, "Excalibur was the only sure way for her to get better."

"We know what happened there." the younger man almost spat out, his emotions getting the better of him.

"I was supposed to die. I was ready to. She saved me instead. I have to live with that guilt. Everyday."

Now Jake stood up, looking the Librarian in the eyes.

"Must be easier to deal with when you aren't here. When you don't have to look at her everyday. You don't have to see her smile and wonder if that's the last time you'll ever see it."

More silence. Neither one dared to break the silence. Instead they let each other calm down.

"I'm sorry." Jake looked down before turning to pick up another book, leaving through the lines or Latin.

"Maybe I deserve that," Flynn began, "But you can't get your hopes up like this. That's not how it works."

"It's better than nothing." he flipped a page angrily.

"She's scared. Being there with her isn't nothing." Flynn tried to reason with him, "She needs you there."

"If I go there... and see her like that..." he trailed off as he looked up again. All the anger faded away, just a tired look on his face, "I'll give up."

"Give up what?" Flynn tilted his head.

"Looking. There will be a cure out there. Magic exists. There has to be a way." he shut the book in frustration. Nothing. Again.

Flynn sighed, "Once I heard of this artifact. I even tried to follow it, but I got interrupted every time." He took off deeper into the stacks. Jake quickly jogged after him. Until the Librarian took a sharp right. He skimmed the shelves until he picked an old book, with red leather binding.

"The Hidden City of Shambhala?" Jake translated the text of the cover.

"Yes." Flynn flipped the pages until he found what he wanted, "The Cintamani Stone." He handed the book to Jake, who read the pages with astounding speed.

"Do we know if this even exists?"

"No." Flynn answered truthfully.

"That's all I need." He took the book with him and turned to leave, calling over his shoulder, "I'm going to find it."


Author's Note: Thanks for reading! This is my first fan-fic in a while. Please tell me what you think. All constructive criticisms are welcome!