Author's Note: This is an idea I've been sitting on for awhile that I finally got the muse to start writing. It'll be a longer story than I'm used to writing, and I'm not sure how regularly I'll be updating but I'll do my best to get at least a chapter up each week.

It was still early when Jake arrived at the annex that morning. This wasn't unusual. He was often the first one there (aside from Jenkins, of course), always looking for spare time to look through the various art history and other textbooks that the Library had to offer. He looked forward to these early mornings when he pretty much had the place to himself. Jenkins was always around, but he wasn't much of a talker anyways and left Jake to his own devices. The cowboy would sit, books spread out over his workspace, coffee in hand, and just get lost in his own little world.

After about a half hour, still earlier than the LITs were expected to be at work, Cassandra would often stumble in. Like Jake, she felt more at home in the annex and preferred to spend as much of her time there as she could. Sometimes she would take comfort in a book of her own, hiding away in a corner deep in the stacks, away from the two men milling about. Other times she would sit across from Jake, working out equations in her notebook. Sometimes, when the two of them were feeling a bit more talkative in the morning, they would sit side by side, and Jake would share with Cassandra whatever artist he was currently reading about, and the paintings and sculptures that he was enamoured with at the time.

Things always picked up when Baird would show up at a quarter to nine, eager to start the day. Ezekiel would drag his feet through the door at nine o'clock on the dot, and only because he was afraid of what Baird might do to him if he ever showed up late. Secretly, the young thief held a lot of respect for the colonel, though he would never admit it to anyone.

The day had started like any other. Still early, Jake sat quietly looking through his chosen books, the only sound that could be heard was that of Cassandra's pencil scribbling across her notebook.

The peacefulness of the morning was soon broken, however. Unlike other mornings, the clippings book suddenly started shaking, pages flipping rapidly, faster and faster, until they suddenly stopped. The book, now still, sat open, its presence demanding to be read.

Both Jake and Cassandra sat in shock for a moment, looking from the clippings book to each other, then back to the clippings book. The LITs knew enough to know that the strange book only acted like that for the most serious of cases, but they weren't used to something interesting happening so early in the morning.

"What the?" Jake started.

"Should we-" Cassandra spoke at the same time.

The two of them hesitantly stood up and slowly started towards the book when suddenly Jenkins came running in.

"What is it? What happened? The older man exclaimed.

"I don't know. The clippings book just went crazy!" Jake flailed his arms around in an effort to express what had happened.

Jenkins rolled his eyes. "Well yes, I figured that much. But what does the book say?" He then muttered something about how the mockery of having a hillbilly as a Librarian, but Jake was too busy reading to hear him.

"Mysterious Horse Attacks Local Man." Jake read the headline out loud before continuing to read the article to himself. He stopped when he reached a certain point and exclaimed "You have got to be kidding me!"

"What is it?" Cassandra asked, pushing closer to Jake and the clippings book.

"See for yourself." he gestured to the book, watching Cassandra's eyes grow wider and wider until she reached the same point of the article that Jake had reached.

"UNICORN!" The redhead shrieked. Jake squinted and rubbed his ringing ear, thinking to himself that he probably should have seen that coming.

Jenkins was now coming over to inspect the book himself. "That's ridiculous, it can't be a unicorn." he muttered.

Cassandra's face fell. "You mean unicorns don't exist?"

"Oh no, they do exist," Jake and Cassandra exchanged eager glances. "but I can't imagine one attacking people. Unicorns are a very shy and peaceful creature. They normally only show themselves to those pure of heart. And even then, seeing one is extremely rare."

Jenkins shook his head as he finished reading the article. "But then again, there's a first time for everything."

Cassandra smiled. "You mean, it is a unicorn!?"

"What's a unicorn?" The three looked up to see Baird enter the annex. She dropped her things off at her desk before joining the others around the clippings book.

"There's a rogue unicorn going around attacking people." Jake said, having a hard time hiding the enthusiasm in his voice.

Baird rolled her eyes. "Of course there is." she slowly shook her head. "That's not the least bit unusual"

"I'm afraid it is, Colonel Baird. And quite unsettling, as well." Jenkins spoke solemnly.

Baird smirked. "For once it's not just me, then."

"So if unicorns are so peaceful, why would this one suddenly be attacking people?" Cassandra asked, looking at Jenkins and hoping he had a theory.

"I can only think of one possibility, but even then this is a long shot." Jenkins started. "Like mothers of any species, a unicorn is very protective of its young. It's possible that if someone has taken this unicorn's foal, she could be trying to get it back."

"But how does that even happen?" Jake asked. "If unicorns only show themselves to people who are pure of heart, how does one end up captured?"

Cassandra nodded along with that. "Someone who is pure of heart wouldn't steal a baby unicorn." she added.

Jenkins nodded, acknowledging their statements, but held up a finger to stop them. "Yes, however, only full grown unicorns know enough to stay hidden from the majority of people. Young unicorns tend to stay by their mother's side for the first several months of their life. Very rarely, however, you might get one that's a bit more adventurous. A young unicorn wouldn't know better and could have found its way to a less than honorable person."

"Poor thing." Cassandra spoke softly. "Lost and confused, separated from those who love him. We have to rescue him!" Jake grinned at how eager Cassandra was to get to the bottom of things. He loved seeing her so excited.

Just then, Ezekiel waltzed into the annex, stopping in the doorway as four pairs of eyes suddenly turned to stare at him.

"No need to rescue me, guys." he said arrogantly. "I'm right here." Baird and Jenkins both rolled their eyes, as Jake rubbed his head and Cassandra just smiled knowingly.

"The attacks have all been happening near a small town in Texas." Jenkins began to brief the team after Ezekiel had been caught up on what he missed. "There are several farms and stables in the area, but the majority of the sightings have been around a ranch called Donahue Acres. The latest victim just happens to be a young man named Sam Donahue, which I doubt is a coincidence."

"Awesome! This will be easy. Jake and Cassandra can distract the hicks and I, the world class thief, will steal back the unicorn baby. Not a problem." Ezekiel said.

"That's not...you can't just…" Jake just shook his head for what had to be the hundredth time since Jones showed up.

"Finding the correct foal might not be quite so simple, Mr. Jones. Depending on how old this little one is, it might not have started growing its horn yet. It could look just like any regular horse foal." Jenkins cut in.

"Well, that's not a problem." Jake spoke up. "What colour are unicorns? Are they all white?"

"White is the most common colour, yes. But it's not the only colour they come in." Jenkins said.

"But the mother, she's white, right? The articles in the clippings book all said that the sightings were of a white horse." Jake continued. "So it's likely the foal is white as well, right?"

Jenkins nodded. "What are you getting at?"

"Regular foals aren't white. Technically, no horse is." Jake grinned, as the others just stared at him expectantly, waiting for him to continue. "It has to do with the pigment of their skin. Those so called white horses you see all of the time are actually grey, because that's the colour of their skin. They're born an entirely different colour, such as chestnut or black, and then they grey out over time. I mean, there are rare colours that look similar to white, a foal could be born one of those. But odds are good that if there's a white foal on that ranch, it's our missing unicorn."

"Well what do you know. It appears having a cowboy as a Librarian actually can prove useful." Jenkins said, turning to Baird. "I suggest you send that one to the ranch to check things out."

Baird nodded. "Agreed. Cassandra, I want you with Stone. Go to the Donahue place and see if anything fishy is going on. Jones and I will head into town and chat up the locals. We'll meet up in about an hour to compare notes."

With that, Jenkins set the coordinates to their destination and the three LITs and their Guardian pushed through the invisible barrier of their magic door, ready to start their investigation.