Chapter Text
It had been a really long day, but it was finally over. All of the Librarians were still alive, and Eve had the Atlantean Thaumatite in her bag. It seemed like a harmless gemstone, but she didn’t dare underestimate it. This thing was somehow responsible for the time loop that had messed with Ezekiel’s head. Anything that hurt her Librarians was not something to be taken lightly.
She held the bag tightly but carefully, the same way she might hold onto an explosive. She didn’t jump when she felt a comforting touch on her shoulder, but that was mostly just because of her years of training. She turned to look at Flynn.
“Are you okay?” He asked quietly. Slightly patronizing, but only just because he didn’t really understand what was going on. The thing about Flynn was that he didn’t really need to know. All he knew was that Eve was upset about something, and that was all he needed to know. He had been in the middle of an assignment, which he used as another excuse to avoid interacting with the team. As soon as Jenkins had called him, just because Eve was taking a little longer than she thought she would, Flynn showed up.
At least Eve knew she could count on him when it really mattered. They just needed to work on him being there when he didn’t think it mattered nearly as much.
“I’m fine.” Eve said, though she immediately grimaced. That was not true at all, and even Flynn probably knew it. “I mean, I will be fine. Just as soon as I know Ezekiel’s okay.” She had finally called Jenkins, saying they were ready for a Door. It didn’t take long before a door in DARPA was connected to the Library and they were finally able to leave.
Eve was ready to never have anything to do with DARPA again. Anybody who messed with magic that they didn’t understand was problematic in her book. That wasn’t even considering all of the trauma that Ezekiel had to deal with here, and the hoops that Eve had been required to jump through just to finish the mission.
She had wanted to just slip in, grab the Thaumatite, and slip out. Of course while making sure Ezekiel was taken care of the state of emergency at DARPA had quieted to the point that workers were let back in, which meant that Eve had to deal with bureaucratic bullshit and work by the book to take back the Atlantean gemstone. Relatively speaking it really didn’t take too long, but certainly longer than she would have liked.
They returned to the Annex. Eve knew she should probably hand Flynn the Thaumatite so he could find a safe place to keep it while she could focus her attention on Ezekiel, but there was one more thing she wanted to do. Maybe it was a mistake, but Ezekiel thought he was still in the loop, which had been powered by the Thaumatite. His whole goal had been to get the gem out of DARPA. If he saw that she got the Thaumatite and didn’t have to face any of the same obstacles that he did to get it, maybe he would understand that it was all over.
And selfishly she wanted to be sure that this really was because of the Thaumatite. That he didn’t just snap under the pressure of being a Librarian. She believed him about the time loops, it was a bit hard not to, but she wanted just one more bit of proof anyway.
After all, none of them had actually seen the Thaumatite for themselves. Supposably Ezekiel had, but only during the loops. If he recognized the Thaumatite then she would know that he had actually seen it in person.
Jenkins was there waiting for them, a fresh pot of tea sitting at the table. Eve wasn’t really a fan of tea, but she found herself craving the hot, light kick of caffeine. She gratefully accepted the cup that Jenkins offered her.
“Thank you.” She said. “Is he okay?”
“All of your Librarians are just fine.” Jenkins said gently. “Ezekiel was let out of the hospital. We healed his leg. And they’re all at Mr. Stone’s apartment, having a ‘sleepover’.” She could hear the quote marks. The fond annoyance in his voice. She smiled to herself as she sipped at the tea. Her Librarians were so odd and chaotic, each in their own way.
“A sleepover?” Flynn tilted his head. He looked equally confused and amused. “Aren’t they a little old for that? They’re not children.”
“Leave them alone.” Eve scolded lightly. If this was how they coped with their concern then she was going to support it. A part of her somewhat wanted to join them, but she wasn’t sure if her relationship with them fit in that way. She bonded better with her Librarians one-on-one. Maybe soon she would do some training with Ezekiel. Surely there were ways that she could do it without making it too obvious what she was up to. She knew he liked one-on-one attention as well, but not when he felt like he was being patronized. It either needed to be sincere or nothing at all.
“Did you get the Thaumatite?” Jenkins gave her an expectant look.
“Yes, I did.” She pulled the bag closer. “And we’ll put it away after I see that Ezekiel’s okay with my own eyes.”
“Don’t you think we should take care of the artifact first?” Flynn suggested.
“I think he needs closure.” Eve said pointedly. “I’m going to grab something really fast, and then I’m heading to Jake’s place.” She would rather head right over, but if she wanted to be sure of things then she needed one more thing. She was just glad that she knew just where to find it.
The Library added new things as they needed them. Ezekiel had a theater room, but he also had a ‘napping’ room’, which he claimed to only use to laze around and slack off, but they all knew it was the closest thing he had to a bedroom. A safe place that he could always come back to. Cassandra just liked to spend all of her time in the magic wing, but ever since she had arrived it had become a lot cozier than it used to be.
Jenkins never went shopping, but the kitchen always had whatever he might need. Eve and Jake both had training rooms that suited their personal preferences. All of them respected their personal space in the library. Eve didn’t keep a lot of personal belongings here, but she had more than just books and weapons. At the back of her closet she had a box of rocks and gems of varying quality and sizes. Some of them were genuine, though their value varied greatly, and some of them were copies, some cheap and some very expensively made.
Eve had been putting together this collection since her first week working with Ezekiel. She liked to know for herself exactly what her associates were capable of, rather than just trusting hearsay and the reports she read. She knew Ezekiel was a master thief, but she wanted to know just how far those skills reached.
She had been saving this little test for a time when Ezekiel was relaxed, but bored. Maybe make a game out of it, rather than make him feel like she was doubting him. She hadn’t found the right time, but she continued to collect the rocks. One of them was a piece of raw tanzanite. It was smaller than the Thaumatite, but they had artifacts in the Library that could shift something’s size.
The Clipping Book had shown a blurry photo of the Thaumatite. If the tanzanite was roughly the same color and size then someone who wasn’t familiar with the Thaumatite and had already seen it for themselves would easily mistake it for the Atlantean gemstone.
A few minutes later Eve had a larger gemstone in her hand, roughly the same size as the Thaumatite. Holding the tanzanite in her hands, and keeping the bag with the real Thaumatite close, she made her way to the Door. Jenkins and Flynn both volunteered to stay and watch over things at the Library. They weren’t worried about Ezekiel in the same way she and the other Librarians in Training were. They hadn’t seen Ezekiel’s breakdown.
Eve hadn’t been in Jake’s apartment before, or any of their homes. It was a silent agreement that they stayed out of each other’s business. They trusted each other with their lives every single day, and an important part of trust was boundaries. Knowing when it was important to have them, and when it was okay to push them. Today was all about pushing them.
It was always a little disorienting to go through the Door. To start one place and a second later be somewhere completely new, sometimes at a brand new time of day. Eve felt the familiar slight nausea as she stumbled into Jake’s apartment, but she couldn’t be bothered by it for a second. She could hear her Librarians talking in the other room, sounding happy and relaxed, just the way that they should. She could hear Ezekiel laughing. It was a slightly grating sound that was a little obnoxious, but at that moment it was one of the most beautiful sounds she’d ever heard.
She made her way into the living room just in time to see Cassandra throw a pillow at Ezekiel’s face, making him laugh harder. Jake was sitting to the side, trying to hide the fact that he was amused. All of them just looked like children, and Eve was happy for them. She couldn’t help but chuckle. Their gaze immediately turned to her. Ezekiel’s eyes widened, fully lighting up. He scrambled to his feet and ran to her, practically throwing himself at her. She really wasn’t used to hugs but she didn’t hesitate to catch him.
“You’re back.” Ezekiel said shakily. He may be more relaxed now, but he was still so vulnerable. Eve wondered how long it would take for things to get back to normal. Or maybe he’d always been vulnerable and scared, and now he was given more of a reason to trust them.
“I’m sorry.” Eve said. She should have saved her visit to DARPA for later, she knew she should have, but she needed to step away from the situation and make herself useful so she could calm down. “I had something I needed to do.” She pulled back from Ezekiel, holding up the tanzanite. “After all, we needed to finish the assignment.”
Jake leaned forward. “Is that the Atlantean Thaumatite?” He sounded like he couldn’t decide whether to be in awe or disgusted. He believed he was looking at an artifact from Atlantis, and also the cause of Ezekiel’s suffering.
“It’s beautiful.” Cassandra said.
“It’s fake.” Ezekiel stared at the tanzanite. “That’s not…that’s not the Thaumatite. That’s just some useless gem.” His eyes, which had been full of life and mischief just seconds ago, were now dull and haunted. Eve hated that she was the one responsible for this. Ezekiel took a step back, slamming his shields back down again.” Eve rushed to put down the tanzanite so she could free up her hands. She put her hands on Ezekiel’s shoulders, pulling him close.
“I’m sorry.” Eve said. “I wasn’t trying to trick you or something. I really wasn’t. I just needed to be sure.” Keeping one hand on Ezekiel she reached for the bag, pulling it between the two of them. “I really did go to DARPA.”
Ezekiel took a deep breath and slowly opened the bag. He paled as he reached into the bag and pulled out the Thaumatite, handling it the way he might an explosion. “Y-you actually got it.”
“You were the one who did all the legwork.” Eve said. “I just took the last few steps.” Ezekiel couldn’t take his eyes off the Thaumatite, pulling it closer until he was practically hugging it to his chest.
“Y-you went to DARPA.” Ezekiel said numbly. “And you didn’t die. You weren’t killed by rage people. Or weird electrifying floor panels. Or-”
“Ezekiel.” She dropped the bag and moved both of her hands to his cheeks, grounding him. Focusing his attention on her. “I’m still here. I didn’t die. There were no rage people.” She still didn’t fully understand what that meant. She just knew it upset him. “It’s over, Ezekiel. We won.”
“We…” Ezekiel trailed off. He didn’t seem like he could say it. He clearly had a hard time believing it, but she thought he was closer to accepting things than he’d been before. He just needed time and support. She could give that to him.
“I-I don’t know what’s going on anymore.” Ezekiel said shakily. “Nothing's working the way that it should. I spent so long learning the rules, and the maps, and the minigames, and they’re all gone. Everything’s just normal, and I don’t even know what normal means.”
“You’ll figure it out.” Eve said. “If there’s one thing I know about you, it’s that you’re good at adapting and figuring things out.” Ezekiel liked to say that he was a ‘go-with-the-flow’ kinda guy. Eve preferred to see it as him being flexible, being willing and able to change how he saw things and how he reacted, depending on what was needed in any given situation. It was an important skill to have, and because of the way he showed it it was so easily brushed off by the others as him just not caring.
She was going to try really hard to not make that mistake again.
She reached for the Thaumatite, not taking it. “Can I have it?” She asked. “I’ll personally see to it that it’s put away safely in the Library. Whatever it did, we’re going to make sure it doesn’t do it again.” Ezekiel hesitated to release it, which was understandable. “I’d understand if you want to put it away yourself, but I thought you might want to just put this behind you and move on.”
Ezekiel swallowed thickly and slowly handed off the Thaumatite. She took it back and returned it to the bag. Ezekiel immediately seemed to relax when it was out of his sight.
“I-I still don’t know if it’s all over or not.” Ezekiel muttered. “It seems like it is. I hope it is. But I don’t know how to…” He trailed off. He didn’t have to continue. “How am I supposed to just act like everything’s normal?”
“You don’t have to act like anything.” Jake said from behind them. Ezekiel turned to look at him. “I don’t know about these guys, but I’m not interested in some mask or show of yours. If you’re feeling good, great! But if you’re feeling bad, or weird, or just not normal in any way, I wanna know because I wanna help.” His gaze softened. “We can’t help if you don’t let us.”
“You’ve done so much.” Cassandra said, a sad look in her eyes. “Just, I don’t know, maybe try to let us help from here?”
Ezekiel didn’t look entirely comfortable or sure, but he gave them a small smile. “I’ll try. I really wanna try.”
Eve gave him a proud look, and he seemed to melt under her look. He’d looked at her like this before, but only since the end of the loop. She wondered how many times he looked at her like that in the loops. She hoped that as he got better he didn’t stop looking at her that way.
“You are so much stronger than you know.” Eve said quietly. She knew Jake and Cassandra could hear her too, but this was just for him. “You are an amazing young man, and it has been an honor to get to know you.”
Ezekiel looked like he didn’t know whether to be horrified from embarrassment or unspeakably pleased with himself. He gave Eve a little push that almost made her want to laugh. “O-okay, got put away the weird Atlanta thingamabob now.”
Jake snorted. “It’s Atlantean, and you know it.”
“I know nothing.” Ezekiel muttered. He gave Eve one more small smile before going to Jake’s side, plopping himself on the couch and grabbing a handful of popcorn so he wouldn’t be expected to talk anymore. Jake snorted and ruffled his hair. Ezekiel threw another handful of popcorn at him. Cassandra was beaming, probably eager to get involved in the playfight that the boys were certainly about to start.
Eve was glad to see them all so relaxed, and it was tempting to stay and watch, but this wasn’t her place. Maybe later. Right now she still had a job to do. She’d let them enjoy their break. It was what they all deserved.
“I’ll see you all tomorrow.” Eve said. She was sure they would all come to the Library, either to work or to hang out, because there were rarely days where they didn’t come in. Today had been a mess, and Eve was happy to see it over. Their routine would go back to normal, though like Ezekiel said, it would surely take all of them time to adjust and figure out just how to cope with ‘normal’.
Her Librarians were all strong though, and Eve wouldn’t hesitate to put her life in any of their hands. They’d all proven themselves again and again, with Ezekiel having done so all in, technically, a single day.
She wished she could spare them from painful situations like this, but she couldn’t. All she could do was offer support afterward and try to clean up the after-math, just so they wouldn’t have to.
Eve stepped back through the Door and returned to the Annex. She gave Flynn a nod and a wave, but didn’t stop to talk to him. Not until her task was over. She went into the Library itself. Jenkins had already told her exactly where to put the Thaumatite, far away from any technology it can cross wires with. She put the Atlantean Thaumatite away, gave it one more sorrowful look, and then she walked away and didn’t look back.
It was done. Maybe it wasn’t over yet, and there was a lot of recovery left. But it was still done. It had been a really long day, and it had finally ended. It was time to move on.