Hand In Glove

"What do you remember?" Jacob said, stooping down so he was eye level with Victor Finch. They'd taken the time to bring him round and patch him up, even giving him a clean change of underwear, so Jacob thought the least Victor could do was provide them with some answers.

"Nothing," Victor said simply.

"Nothing?" Cassandra pressed.

"Nothing," Victor repeated sadly.

"Right we're commandeering your UFO equipment," Jacob said, straightening up, "consider it payment for the boxers." Without a word, he shouldered Victor's rucksack, before picking up a variety of cameras by the straps and swinging them over his arm. "Come on, troops," he said to the others, heading for the door.

"And back to the Annex," Ezekiel said, twirling to a stop in front of Flynn's desk.

"You smell of hospital," Jenkins said, wrinkling his nostrils with disgust.

"As requested," Jacob interjected, dumping Victor's equipment down on the desk.

"Give me that," Jenkins snapped, snatching up a video camera. He flicked through the footage, before freezing it. "See," he said, beckoning the others over, "there's an energy emission in the woods, right behind Mr. Finch."

Clara studied the screen, brow furrowing as waves of golden light flickered like fairy dust, the sight strangely hypnotic.

"That's what took Eve," Ezekiel said, all but jumping up and down on the spot at being proven right.

"It's not evidence of alien life, Jones," Jenkins said dourly.

"Do you think it's connected to the gas lamps?" Clara suggested hesitantly.

"Perhaps," Jenkins said carefully.

"I should go and speak to that archivist then," Jacob said, moving with indecent haste to the door.

"Go with him," Jenkins ordered Clara, "and guard him."

~*~

"Hey," Jacob called over as he strode through the stacks, Clara trailing at his heels, face tripping her.

"Hi," Mabel said, surprised, "and you've caught me up yet another ladder," she finished with an embarrassed laugh.

"Comes with the territory, huh?" Jacob said, gesturing to the archive around them.

Mabel just smiled, sparing Clara an even sparer glance. "Can I help you with anything?" she said, clambering down the ladder steps with awkward grace.

"For such a small town, you seem to have a lot of history," Jacob said, sidestepping the question.

"God forbid if we throw anything away," Mabel said, rolling her eyes.

Jacob laughed, before crossing his arms over his chest. "Did you ever leave this place?" he said suddenly, startling both Mabel and Clara.

"What, the archives?" Mabel said, raising her eyebrows.

"No, the town," Jacob said, studying her face.

Mabel hesitated before shaking her head. "No," she said, picking up a box of files, before carrying them over to another shelf, Jacob and Clara following her, "I couldn't. Family obligations."

"This is a nice heart to heart we're having," Clara said, stepping inbetween Mabel and Jacob, "but to get back to the matter at hand, we need to know about your gas lamps."

"You know, you're not zoning out so much," Jacob said suddenly again, turning to Clara this time.

"Blame Ezekiel for that," Clara said tiredly, "he'd keep the Devil on his toes."

"Gas lamps?" Mabel pressed, raising her eyebrows.

"Maybe Mabel, I could bring Paris to you... if I can't bring you to Paris," Jacob said, turning the full battery of his blue eyes on Mabel.

She laughed, a short abrupt sound. "That... that would be nice," she said, setting the box of files down.

"Better than digging ditches," Jacob said, rumpling up his hair.

"Is that what you did, before you became a librarian?" Mabel said, eying his broad shoulders.

"Yup," Jacob admitted, "it's one of my many talents."

"One of your gas lamps has gone a little bit funny," Clara cut in, resisting the urge to roll her eyes, "so we were wondering if you could help us with blueprints or something" -

"Our surveying equipment detected some sort of fault," Jacob said quickly, glaring at Clara, not wanting Mabel to get caught up in the madness.

"Our surveying equipment detected some sort of fault," Jacob said quickly, glaring at Clara.

"Show me," Mabel said, picking up her coat.

"We just need" -

- "My town, my archives," Mabel said firmly. "Show me."

~*~

Hand in glove
we can go wherever we please
and everything depends upon
how near you stand to me...

"Hey," Jacob said awkwardly, stepping out from between the trees, "how's the surveying goin'?"

Everybody froze, their gazes falling upon Mabel, faces instantly darkening at the sight of her.

"You brought somebody that's not a Librarian?" Cassandra hissed at Clara, who was doing her best to hide behind Jacob.

"Blame Loverboy," Clara hissed back, "he's got stars in his eyes."

"I thought that was Jones," Jenkins said dryly, "suffering from doing too much star-gazing."

"All Stone sees is Mabel and more Mabel," Clara whispered, making Jacob glare at her, Mabel pretending not to hear her.

"I had a doll called Mabel once," Jenkins said, reminiscing over his measuring tape.

"Uh, what's wrong with the gas lamp?" Mabel asked, going over to it, careful to keep her distance from Jenkins.

"Bloke slammed into it, then poof, Eve was no more," Ezekiel said blithely.

"Poof?" Mabel said, raising her eyebrows.

"He's Australian," Jacob said hastily, "we don't even know what he's saying half the time."

"Do you even know what this gas lamp is doing out here in the middle of the woods?" Cassandra asked Mabel, tilting her head to the side.

"No," Mabel said, confused.

"Lucy," Ezekiel said, pointing at her.

"Mabel," Mabel said, backing away from him.

"So far the gas lamp seems..." Jenkins said, ignoring their odd interlude, touching the gas lamp instead, only to be almost electrocuted, Eve appearing in a shimmering haze of golden light, looking like she was trying to grab someone.

"Oh my God," Mabel said, her hand flying to her mouth.

"Optical illusion," Jenkins groaned, doubling over.