#2 Double Agents (Librarians Fanfic)

The Slumber Party

"Colonel I've told you a thousand times that Ezekiel shouldn't be aloud to wonder about on his own-," Jenkins started, walking into the Annex as the Librarians appeared through the door. He stopped mid-sentence as he laid eyes on his Librarians, battered and bruised. "What the Hell happened?" he asked, holding Cassandra arm as she sat down before reaching out to help Stone and Ezekiel. Jenkins stared up at Eve with an accusing look, as if to say 'Why didn't you look after them? You know they're too small to look after themselves?' 

"It's been a long day," was all Eve could say, handing the Mermaid's Tear up to Jenkins. The Caretaker sighed, setting the jewel down before glancing at the Librarians, a worried look in his eyes. "I'll be back," Jenkins muttered, twirling around before disappearing quickly. 

Eve frowned, watching Jenkins leave before turning back to her exhausted Librarians. She felt like their mother at times, especially now when they were so run down. Stone and Cassandra looked like they were about to fall asleep while Ezekiel stared blankly at something on the wall. Stone jumped suddenly, looking around for a place to sit. He looked down, before bending down to sit on the floor, leaning a shoulder on the chair that Cassandra was sitting on. 

Cassandra eyelids starting dropping, and Eve started to feel relaxed. She stood up straight, looking around before going behind Flynn's desk. She bent down before finding what they needed. Blankets, and a few pillows so that the Librarians could all sleep next to each other as Jenkins patched them up. It was getting more and more noticeable that, after every bad mission they'd ever had, they all needed one another to get to sleep at night. Eve remembered Ezekiel calling them 'Slumbery Grumblers' because Eve and Jenkins had complained at first. 

After a while though, even Jenkins had joined them once or twice, though he usually tried to shrug it off as 'making sure they were all sleeping and staying still'. Eve knew that, if they didn't have a slumber party night, she'd be left with three, very terrified, very tired Librarians on her hands. 

She stood up again, holding up the pillows and blankets before realising that Stone and Cassandra were already asleep. Ezekiel was still staring at the wall, and Eve was worried about him. He'd been almost silent since they'd gone on their mission, which was the last thing that Eve wanted to see right now. She laid out all the blankets, nudging Cassandra slightly so that she could partially carry her to a more comfortable spot on the floor. 

Stone jolted awake again, before seeing the blankets laid out and lazily moving over to lay down next to Cassandra. Eve smiled as they both lay together, both of them with hands outstretched as if they were touching each other. Then, Eve crouched in front of Ezekiel. She caught his eye for a second, and she smiled softly. "Ezekiel," she said, in barely a whisper, "Are you okay?" 

He jumped, before giving her his cheeky, crooked smile. "I'm Ezekiel Jones, nothing gets to me." he said. Eve kept smiling, while holding his arm. 

"Come on," she said, pulling him to his feet, "Bed time," she whispered. Ezekiel looked like he wanted to say something, but he just nodded, finally realising how exhausted he was. Eve got him down on the other side of Cassandra. He was facing away from the other two, but Eve knew that Ezekiel would toss and turn during the night anyway. 

Jenkins emerged again, carrying a vial of something blue and sparkling. In his other hand he was carrying a tray of tea with only two cups on it. "Jenkins-," Eve began, but he shooshed her. Jenkins set the tea down before crouching beside each of the Librarians, scanning them in his mind before putting a drop of the liquid into each of their mouths. He nodded, before standing back up and offering one of the teacups to Eve. 

Eve took the tea, looking over her three Librarians. She really hoped they were alright. They'd had tough missions before, but she could feel something underneath them that was threatening how the team worked. She wasn't sure whether it was connected to Ezekiel's sudden quietness, but she was going to find out. No one hurted her Librarians, least of all the Librarians themselves. No one.