13Disclaimer: I do not own any of the brilliant characters of The Librarians, nor do I claim the dialogue as my own. But I do find it creative enough to get my juices flowing. So my eternal thanks to Dean Devlin and John Rogers for creating such awesome characters and situations.
Author's Notes: I wasn't planning on anything past a one-shot, but with how many people enjoyed the piece, I thought maybe we should get Jake's thoughts too. Special thanks to Tacodestroyeravenger for reviewing the first chapter. Please review. I'm always looking for feedback!
Spoilers: Definite spoilers for The Librarians and the Fables of Doom (1x06). You've been warned.
Jake wasn't sure whether it was the fairy tales mission that got to him or the doe eyes of a certain redhead, but he didn't see sleep coming to visit him any time soon.
He thought maybe it had all settled, this thing between him and Cassandra. Trust came first for him, above everything. You couldn't build anything without trust, not a friendship, not a relationship. He'd learned that the hard way once before. He wasn't a guy who willingly made the same mistake twice.
He played over the day's events in his mind. Colonel Baird paired them up, Cassandra with Jake. No problems on his end. But he also wasn't surprised when Cassandra spoke up. "Maybe I should go with you," she'd said to Eve.
Eve's decision was final, and so the two went off. Jake didn't have a problem with the pairing, and he said so. In some way, he almost took pleasure in seeing Cassandra get flustered. It was a little more than cute. It almost made her into a schoolgirl, and he could almost picture her in a—
Jake stopped that thought. He'd made it more than clear when he talked to Cassandra. She'd thanked him for letting her work with him, and he'd been honest with her. He could work with her, sure. Hell, he even liked her. Who wouldn't? She was a lithe little ginger with a permanent smile and a perky attitude. She appreciated art. Oh, and she was brilliant. He definitely liked her.
Trust, however, was another issue.
He wondered if maybe he had led her on at some point. Hell, he'd almost led himself on at one point. He almost felt that while the group could appreciate her skill, they didn't really appreciate her. They didn't see her the way he did.
The first time he met her, he found out she was sick. Within ten minutes of meeting her, their relationship, partnership, whatever you called it... it already had a deadline. She was sick. Tumor, responsible for the synesthesia. Within minutes of meeting her, he already felt as though he wanted to protect her, that she needed protecting.
It wasn't just that though. When she started thinking, really thinking, it could cause her to spiral. And somehow, for whatever reason, he knew how to reach her in those moments. He could help her ground herself again. It was something they'd been practicing, trying to help her find her way back to them.
Maybe, he was just trying to help her find a way back to him.
But none of that mattered now. Because she'd broken his trust. He'd let her in so easily, and she'd reminded him so quickly why that was never a good idea.
He felt that he'd walked that fine line again between admiration and trust. He remembered the conversation they'd had after defeating the Minotaur.
"I like ya, Cassie. There's no way around it. I just do. But I trusted ya. And, uh, I learned my lesson. It's not — look — it always ends bad. So... always best."
She'd been hurt. He'd seen it all over her face. But it wasn't something he could help.
Oh, how he wanted to though.
If he could just tell her the whole story, then maybe... but he couldn't. Not yet.
He just hoped that maybe she could hear what he was really saying through the lack of trust. He liked her. He told her flat out that he liked her. Twice.
He couldn't help but laugh at the irony. The spell had turned Cassie into Prince Charming, made everyone in town love her just as soon as look at her.
He'd already done that without a spell.
Lying in bed now, he wondered if maybe he could try. Give it a shot. Not trust her completely but enough. He already was doing that to a certain extent. He knew she'd have his back as he fought the wolves. And the dragons before that. With each challenge they faced together, he found that he was willing to trust his back to her more and more.
If there was one thing that he'd learned from all this fairy tale stuff, it was that happy endings and heroes weren't all they were cracked up to be. Cassandra mentioned to him later that they were all fulfilling archetypes. He was The Huntsman, the man who saved the day, but stood alone.
She was Prince Charming. The one who never gave up. Who always tried to do the right thing.
Jake grinned in the darkness at the thought. Prince Charming and The Huntsman. What a combination they'd make.
Maybe he'd talk to her about it tomorrow.
Please review. I'm always looking for feedback!
To My Reviewers:
Tacodestroyeravenger – I definitely agree with you! I totally thought that they might have kept their powers, if only for a short time. That would definitely be an interesting story to play with! Thank you so much for the supportive feedback! I hope you enjoy this installment just as much!