I've been sitting on this story idea for a little while, and then I realized it kind of perfectly fit into Ezekiel Jones Appreciation Week (Day 3) and that was just the motivation I needed to get this finally written!

Enjoy :)

Ezekiel Jones was no stranger to sneaking into places. He was no stranger to sneaking out of places, either. Banks, museums, vaults, excavation sites…pretty much anything that held anything valuable, Ezekiel Jones knew how to get in and get out undetected. Despite his many skills and successes, though, he had never snuck into this particular place before, so his senses were heightened. The Annex was his, too, as much as it was Flynn's or Baird's or anyone else's. That was something he knew. He needn't worry about using the Back Door for a trip not related to a mission; he knew he didn't need to sneak around. He wasn't, however, in the mood for either questions or a lecture, both of which he knew he'd get if anyone saw him heading for the Back Door at nearly 8 o'clock at night.

He'd left for dinner when they returned from the day's mission so as not to arouse suspicion, despite having had his little rendezvous scheduled for quite some time now. Rather than using the regular entrance to get back inside, he used his special side entrance. He'd contemplated that it might've been the more dangerous choice, as the Side Door opened right into the middle of rows and rows of books. Flynn was in the Library somewhere; Ezekiel knew that for sure, so that meant Baird was probably around, too. Jenkins never seemed to leave. Ezekiel was pretty sure Stone had gone home. He didn't know where Cassandra was. She'd surprisingly turned down his offer to join him at Taco Bell when they'd arrived back in Portland, so he assumed she was still around somewhere, too.

He managed to make his way from his Side Door to the Back Door undetected, not even seeing a hint of another soul. Just as he reached for the globe, about to breathe a side of relief, the small voice pierced the silence of the Annex.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

Ezekiel closed his eyes and sighed. "So close…" he muttered under his breath.

Despite his quick assessment upon entering the Annex's main room, he'd completely missed her sitting on the staircase by the Back Door. He adjusted the bag slung over his shoulder and turned, intending to answer her with a sarcastic quip, but when he opened his eyes, the comment died on his lips. She wasn't just sitting on the stairs reading as he'd assumed, as he'd seen her do so many times before. Instead, Cassandra was sitting on a step, taking up as little space as she could manage. Her arms encircled the knees that were curled up to her chin, and, try as she might, she couldn't quite hide the distraught look on her face. When she instinctively brushed her cheek as soon as Ezekiel looked at her, he was sure she'd been crying. His destination momentarily forgotten, he took a seat beside her.

"What's wrong?" Ezekiel asked.

"I'm fine," she insisted.

"No," he said, shaking his head. "I thought something was wrong when you turned down tacos earlier. I figured I'd just let you be, but…you've just been sitting here alone these past few hours?"

Cassandra nodded her head, sadness filling her face again. "That spell," she said softly. "Apep…whatever it was that made us be so mean to each other…did you hear what Flynn said?"

"When?" Ezekiel asked.

"When he said nobody trusts me," Cassandra said.

"Right after you said none of us are smart enough to be a leader?" Ezekiel reminded her.

Cassandra's face flushed slightly. "I know," she said. "I know. It's stupid to be upset, and I know it isn't even true, what he said, but after what I did in the beginning…what I did to him and the Library…it's just kind of a sore spot, you know?"

"Yeah, that was a low blow," Ezekiel agreed. "You do know that's a load of crap, right? The idea that none of us trust you?"

"Is it, though?" she asked softly.

Ezekiel glanced over at the globe before checking the time on his phone just as quickly. He needed to get going, but despite his sometimes acting to the contrary, he liked Cassandra's cheery demeanor, and he didn't want to leave her on the stairs, insecure, forlorn, and beating herself up all over again over something that had happened so long ago.

He was going to regret this decision in the next few hours. He was pretty sure of that, but he chose to take a leap of faith anyway and held out his hand as he stood.

"Come on," he said.

She glanced at his hand, then up at his face. "Come on where?" she asked.

"Do you think you can stay out a little while longer than normal? There's a time difference to contend with here," he said. Cassandra nodded slowly and took his hand, letting him help her stand, too. Ezekiel chuckled. "Not even going to ask what we're doing, are you?"

"Well, you know how I feel about what it is that you do for fun, so I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt and choosing to believe you aren't trying to cheer me up by dragging me along on something that could put me in jail," she said. "Because – for lack of a better term in this unfortunate scenario – I trust you."

"Then trust that what we're about to do says a whole lot more about my trust in you than the other way around," he said.

She looked both confused and intrigued as he stepped back over to the globe. She didn't say anything as he dialed up Australia, and when he held out his hand again, indicating that she should go through the door first, she did so, no questions asked, and found herself stumbling out of the women's restroom at a public park. Ezekiel followed behind her, hurriedly pushing them out of the ladies' room. He looked around to see if anyone had spotted them, and a small smile crossed Cassandra's face.

"Ezekiel?" she asked.

He threw his arm around her back to guide her. "Come on," he said. They made their way over to the main pathway around the park and started walking side-by-side. He pulled out his phone again, which had already calibrated to their new time zone, and groaned. "Well, I tried…" he muttered.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"Home," he said. "Well, my mum's home."

"What?" Cassandra asked, expecting just about any answer other than that one.

"It's my grandma's eightieth birthday," he revealed. "The party started at noon, which was 8 PM our time, which was about ten minutes ago. My sister's going to give me so much shit for being late again."

"Sister?" Cassandra asked, stopping in her tracks, her mouth slightly agape.

"Yeah," Ezekiel nodded. When he noticed she was no longer beside him, he stopped, too, and turned around to find her. "What?"

"You…you've never told us anything about your family or your life in Australia," Cassandra said. "You have a sister?"

"Yeah," Ezekiel said again.

"You've never told us anything about your family or your life in Australia, and now you're taking me to your grandmother's birthday party," Cassandra repeated, the significance of the meaning behind her simple words sinking in.

"Yeah," Ezekiel shrugged.

Cassandra struggled with what to say next, clearly at a bit of a loss for words. For a moment, Ezekiel thought she was going to cry again as the gravity and the trust behind his actions struck her, and he really didn't have time for that.

"Why?" she finally choked out.

"Can we walk and talk at the same time, please?" Ezekiel asked. Cassandra quickly caught up to him and fell back into step beside him, looping her arm through his. "My instinct back on the stairs was to tell you that Flynn didn't really mean what he said. That he knew it would hurt you, and he knew it was a low blow, so that's why he said it."

"But?" Cassandra asked.

"But I don't know if that's true," Ezekiel admitted. "I mean…do you really think Flynn is threatened by you because…" He started chuckling to himself, a bit of a wicked grin on his face, as he finished with, "Because I do."

"You do?" Cassandra asked.

"Yeah," Ezekiel laughed. "Your mind can run circles around his sometimes, and he's got about a billion more degrees than you do." Cassandra laughed then, too. Ezekiel shot her a knowing look. "See? You believe that, don't you? You like being a threat to him."

Cassandra smiled, hesitating for a long time before finally saying, "I never would've said it out loud, but…yes! I mean, at least a little part of me thinks that. But that's how I know Flynn meant what he said, too. Logically, if the things I yelled stemmed from things I really at least partially believe, then…probably at least a little part of Flynn meant what he said, too."

"I hadn't really put that together," Ezekiel said, his own face suddenly falling.

"Yeah," Cassandra replied, glancing over at him. She noticed his changed demeanor and said, "Wait, now you look sad. Why do you look sad?"

"No reason," Ezekiel shrugged.

Cassandra stopped walking again and grabbed his arm. "What did Stone say to you?"

"You didn't hear?" Ezekiel asked. Cassandra shook her head. "Just the usual, you know. I'm not like the rest of you. I don't really deserve to be a Librarian. I know he thinks I'm stupid, but, like you and the trust thing, I thought we were past the rest of it."

"He doesn't think you're stupid," Cassandra said, shaking her head.

"Could've fooled me," Ezekiel said, starting to walk again.

"No, Ezekiel, you…you frustrate him," Cassandra said. "Because he is history and literature and so believes in books and old-fashioned learning, and when you need to solve a problem, you don't look to any of that. You turn to technology and innovation, or you just wing-it, and that's usually enough for you! You don't need books like he does, and you don't care about the old ways of doing things, and that drives him crazy. And maybe makes him feel a little old. He doesn't think you're stupid."

"Are you sure?" he asked with skepticism.

"Positive," Cassandra said.

"What do you think?" Ezekiel asked.

"I don't think anything should be solved using a particular method just because that's the way it's always been done," she said. "I admire innovative thinking. We would all benefit from solving more problems with more…enigmatic solutions."

"Okay, now who are we talking about?" he asked, shooting her another knowing look.

Cassandra rolled her eyes, and then grabbed his arm to stop him again. "You're not like the rest of us," she said honestly. "That's not a bad thing."

Ezekiel diffused the compliment by pointing down to their once-again stationary feet. "You've got to stop doing that!" he said.

"Okay, okay! Sorry!" Cassandra realized. They started walking again. "So what do I need to know here?"

"What do you mean?" Ezekiel said. He put his arm around her back again to lead her off the main walkway, down a beaten dirt path instead. In the not-too-far-away distance, houses came into view.

"I mean…am I even dressed okay?" she asked.

"You'll blend right in," he shrugged.

"Ezekiel, you're taking me to meet your family. You're not going to tell me anything about them?" she sighed.

He chuckled. "It's not going to be as big as you're expecting. Just Grandmother, Mum…Dad's not around anymore," he said. He paused for a moment at that, but he didn't offer any more details, and she didn't ask. He continued. "Sister. Brother. Brother's kids."

"You're an uncle, too?" Cassandra cried.

"Yeah," Ezekiel laughed. "Jasper and Adelaide."

"Is that the brother and sister or the kids?" Cassandra asked.

"The kids," Ezekiel said. He finally stopped walking. "Here we are."

Cassandra turned to look at the house in front of them, and her mouth fell slightly open again. It was a small suburban house with gray panels and a bright red door. A mailbox with the Jones name etched onto the side and one single Happy Birthday balloon tied around the flag stood next to her. A small yard and what looked to be a hand-made wooden picket fence is all that separated them from the home. It wasn't at all what she had been expecting.

"I know," he said, off her look. "It's kind of embarrassing."

"No!" Cassandra said immediately. "It's just…your place back in Portland is so big. I just assumed that's what you came from, too."

"Not quite," Ezekiel chuckled nervously. "Come on."

They headed through the modest fence and up to the front door. Ezekiel tried the knob and found it locked. Rather than knock, he started picking his way inside.

"What are you doing?" Cassandra exclaimed in a hushed voice.

"Relax," Ezekiel said, opening the front door. "It's expected at this point. Plus, it's my house!"

As soon as they walked in, Cassandra could hear music and laughter coming from the other end of the hallway, but he turned her to the right, leading her into the home's small kitchen. A woman with dark hair tied on top of her head stood at the kitchen counter, icing a homemade cake.

"Hey, Mum," Ezekiel said, slinging the bag around his shoulder onto the floor near the entranceway. His mother jumped, startled by the sudden interruption to her otherwise silent kitchen.

"I thought the door was locked!" his mother gasped.

"Since when has that stopped me?" Ezekiel boasted.

Ezekiel's mother rolled her eyes at almost the same time Cassandra did, and wrapped Ezekiel into a warm hug – a hug that he willingly returned. That's when she spotted Cassandra over her son's shoulder, standing quietly by Ezekiel's discarded bag.

"Who's this?" his mother asked, pulling back from the embrace.

"That's Cassandra," Ezekiel said casually.

"Hello," Cassandra said with a small wave and a bright smile. She was doing her very best to contain her excitement as she said, "It's so nice to meet you."

Excitement radiated in the older woman's eyes as she looked at Ezekiel. "Girlfriend?" she asked.

"No," Ezekiel said.

His mother looked to Cassandra and then to her son again. "Maybe?" she tried again.

"No," Ezekiel repeated. His mother's shoulders slumped just slightly, and she turned back to finishing the birthday cake for the gathering.

Before Cassandra could finish quietly snickering to herself, the sounds of little but mighty footsteps filled the hall. Cries of "Uncle Zeke!" started before the children even came into view, but when they rounded the corner and saw him standing in the kitchen, they barreled into him. The boy, Jasper, looked to be about seven or eight, wearing worn-out sneakers that had clearly seen much better days. The girl, Adelaide, was a little younger, wearing clothes that had once belong to Jasper, or maybe even a very young Ezekiel. She wore sparkly plastic costume jewelry, too, her long dark hair tied back with pink polka dot ribbons. Adelaide twirled around the kitchen after getting her hug, stopping with a gasp when she saw Cassandra.

"Wow," she breathed. "Where'd you come from?"

"I think she came with Uncle Zeke," Jasper said.

Adelaide looked up at Ezekiel. "You know a princess?" she gasped.

"That's Cassie; she's not a princess, silly," Ezekiel said.

"She looks like a princess," Adelaide said, crossing her arms defiantly.

"She always looks like that," Ezekiel said with a wave of his hand.

Meant to be a dismissive comment, it backfired, and Adelaide's eyes grew wider. Cassandra curled her finger, beckoning the little girl away from her uncle. She ran over to Cassandra immediately, and Cassandra crouched down to her level.

"Little tip, one girl to another?" Cassandra said. Adelaide nodded. With a wink, Cassandra said, "Don't let anyone tell you you're not a princess."

"I knew it!" Adelaide whispered, and Cassandra grinned.

Jasper spotted the bag near Cassandra and said, "Did you bring us presents, Uncle Zeke?"

"Is it your birthday?" Ezekiel replied, mocking offense at the question. Jasper's face began to fall in disappointment. Ezekiel shook his head and said, "Of course I brought presents…"

"Yay!" both kids cheered simultaneously.

Another female voice from down the hallway called out, "Has my brother finally decided to grace us with his presence?" The woman, probably a few years younger than Ezekiel, appeared in the kitchen. She spotted the kids hanging off of Ezekiel and sighed. "Though maybe that's okay. I'm only the cool aunt until you arrive, you know."

"Trust me, sis, you're never the cool aunt," Ezekiel retorted, and Jasper laughed.

"Okay!" Ezekiel's mom called. "I love you all, but there are too many people in this kitchen. Out! Get out. Take this party to the living room!"

Ezekiel's sister rolled her eyes and turned back towards the hallway. Not needing to be told twice, both kids went running back down the hall, too.

"Dad!" Jasper called. "Uncle Zeke brought presents!"

"And a princess!" Adelaide called.

Ezekiel scoffed. "She's really not going to let that one go, is she?"

"You never introduce us to anyone, and then you show up with a pretty girl you presumably met on one of your fancy trips," his mother said. "That's going to get a little attention, darling."

Ezekiel just sighed and wandered over to Cassandra to pick up his bag full of gifts. He should've known walking in with an unexplained guest at all would cause a scene. Walking in with Cassandra, with her colorful clothes, bright red hair, and American accent…he should've expected an excess of questions and attention from the moment they walked through the door. Cassandra put her foot in front of his bag, playfully blocking him from grabbing it as he was halfway leant over to get it. He looked up at her.

"I'll just blend right in, huh?" Cassandra whispered in a teasing tone, throwing his earlier words back in his face.

"Sorry about…" he muttered softly to Cassandra, looking nervously around the room.

"I love it here," Cassandra whispered, cutting him off before he could even think of issuing any sort of apology. Her instinct was to lean in and kiss Ezekiel's cheek, a thanks for the sweet gesture of inviting her to join him, but after moving just an inch, she caught, out of the corner of her eye, Ezekiel's mom watching with interest, so she held back and followed him into the living room.

Nearly two hours later, the party had migrated to the backyard where Jasper ran around in his new, light-up sneakers, and Adelaide danced around to no music at all in the beautiful little party dress Ezekiel had bought for her. Ezekiel had been captured by his grandmother, the birthday lady. Judging from his look across the small patio, Cassandra thought he was probably being interrogated by the old woman, and she wondered how long it had been since Ezekiel had snuck off from the Library to come back here and see everyone.

Cassandra had taken up residence next to Ezekiel's mother, hoping to get more hidden details about her friend. Instead, Ezekiel's mother seemed far more interested in talking about her and her relationship with Ezekiel, and Cassandra tried her hardest to answer her questions as non-specifically as possible. Beginning to feel like they were probably both fighting losing battles on the conversation front, Cassandra was thankful for the squeal of glee that came from Adelaide and disrupted the conversations.

"It twirls!" she cried, spinning as fast as she could to make the dress fly out around her again.

"Of course it twirls," Ezekiel said. "What kind of uncle do you think I am?"

"A great one!" Adelaide cried again, running over for another hug.

"An overstepping one…" Ezekiel's older brother muttered.

"Excuse me?" Ezekiel said.

"They don't need all this stuff, Zeke," his brother said.

"It's not stuff," Ezekiel argued. "It's shoes. And a dress. Pretty sure they need both of those things."

Sensing a larger fight brewing, Cassandra quickly asked Ezekiel's mother for a bathroom. She pointed the way, and Cassandra scurried inside the house.

Cassandra went back to the kitchen to get something to drink and found herself staring at the front of the fridge. Almost every inch of it was covered with something – the kids' artwork, pictures of faraway places – some featuring Ezekiel, coupons, and schedules, all held together with simple round magnets. She wandered through the house, not meaning to pry, but simultaneously wanting to miss the family quarrel outside and wanting to take full advantage of the little glimpse into Ezekiel Jones he was allowing her. Down the main hallway of the small home, she found more pictures. The walls were covered in them – some pictures in nice frames, some in frames clearly made in elementary schools. There were school pictures, pictures of birthdays and holidays, pictures on beaches, and pictures from a home that wasn't the one she was currently standing in, but maybe even smaller, featuring three small children, one with a mischievous little face she'd know anywhere. Next to that photo was one taken outside of this new house with a grown-up Ezekiel, his mother, and his grandmother. It couldn't have been more than a few years old.

"What are you doing?" Ezekiel asked, abruptly ending her exploration.

"I'm not trying to spy!" she said quickly.

He chuckled. "I wasn't accusing."

"Oh. Good. I was just…looking at the pictures," Cassandra said.

"That almost sounded sad again," Ezekiel said.

"You guys love each other so much," Cassandra said with a small shrug. "Even though…things alright with your brother?"

"Yeah," Ezekiel shrugged. "Happens every time I show up with gifts…which is every time."

"I don't know what I expected or why I didn't expect this, but…" she said, gesturing towards the home and life around her.

"I know," Ezekiel interrupted. "I'm a constant surprise."

"You kind of are," Cassandra agreed. "I thought the stealing was a game for you. You know, just fun, but you did it to survive, didn't you?"

"No, not exactly," Ezekiel admitted with a bit of a laugh. "We didn't have much when I was a kid, but we got by. I just wanted more, and I thought if I wanted more, I'd have to take it."

"You could earn more, you know," Cassandra said.

"Yeah, but I've never been one for traditional paths," Ezekiel said. "Or patience, for that matter."

Cassandra nodded in agreement and crossed her arms against her chest. "True."

"Don't get the wrong impression here. It is a game," he said. "A game I'm good at – the best at."

"But?" Cassandra asked.

"But it didn't start just because I was bored one day," he admitted.

"Ezekiel, what does your family think you do?" Cassandra asked.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"I'm assuming they don't know you're a thief, and I'm assuming they don't think you're a librarian, either." She pointed to the last image she'd been looking at, the one outside their current home, and said, "And we're standing in a house that I'm pretty sure your…earnings, shall we say…paid for, at least partly, and the presents for your niece and nephew were practical, and not just silly toys, so…" Cassandra said, trailing off for him to finish.

"So…?" he asked.

"So you're the kind of guy who makes sure his nephew has a nice pair of shoes and his mother and his grandmother have a nice house to live in, and I'm just wondering how they think you got the money to make all that happen," she said.

"They think I'm a travel journalist," Ezekiel said. "It explains why I'm gone all the time."

"And they don't ever ask to see your work?" Cassandra asked.

Ezekiel chuckled. "Mum does all the time. It's why I always try to take a picture when we go somewhere. You saw the pictures on the fridge? I've sent her all of those."

Cassandra chuckled. "I always thought you were taking all those pictures for Instagram."

"Well, yeah," Ezekiel said. "But sometimes I take pictures for things other than all my adoring followers."

Cassandra rolled her eyes upon that last comment, then settled into a small smile. "And the journalist part?"

"I'll whip up a paragraph or two to go with the pictures before I send them to Mum," he said. "It keeps her from Googling me."

Cassandra exhaled almost in disbelief again and shook her head slightly. "You're definitely not stupid, Ezekiel," she said, harkening back to their earlier conversation. "Far from it."

She walked towards him, intending to re-join the party in the backyard. As she passed, she touched his arm and pushed herself up on her toes to brush her lips against his cheek.

"Thank you," she whispered. "For letting me see all of this."

Ezekiel said nothing in response; he simply shot her a bit of a fond smile. She returned the grin and headed for the others, having earlier promised to play princesses with his little niece. Ezekiel turned around and found her just a few steps away.

"Cassandra," he called. She turned around, too, a quizzical look on her face. "You tell anyone about any of this…"

"Don't worry," she said with a slight roll of her eyes. "Your secret identity is safe with me."

Thanks for reading! Reviews make me happy :)