Crawl Home To Her

"Come on, get in!" Jacob ordered. "More troops are on their way!" As Flynn's colleagues hastily clambered into the Jeep, Jacob strode over to Flynn, ignoring Clara's dirty looks. After dragging Clara back to camp, Jacob had proceeded to liberate the other prisoners, Flynn falling upon his colleagues' necks with tearful joy, apologizing profusely for bringing them to the inner circle of hell. "Hey big guy, can I have a word?" he said to Flynn, folding his arms across his chest.

"Jacob, my friend and saviour," Flynn beamed, clasping his shoulder, "how may I help you after you helped me?"

Jacob pondered this for a moment, genuinely tempted. He wanted to know why Clara had said she was with Flynn, her strange food analogy about baked beans and toast confusing him, but as he studied Flynn's long drooping nose and receding hairline, Jacob reassured himself there was no competition; that Clara was probably suffering from sunstroke, dragging Flynn into her delusions. "I just wanted to say you shouldn't have brought your research team out here," he reproved, "this is a war-zone. It's no place for civilians."

"I was tempted into trouble by history," Flynn admitted, exhaling sharply, "lured onto the rocks by ancient Goth marking stones" –

- "Mystical stones?" Jacob said, grabbing Flynn's arm, every inch of him suddenly alert. "Where?"

"D-d-down the road," Flynn stuttered, feeling his bones were about to break.

"C'mon Clara," Jacob ordered, striding over to her, Flynn massaging his arm, wincing. Jacob Stone, the Librarian, all round hero, had a grip like death. Flynn just knew he was going to wake up with a bruise tomorrow.

"I'm not going anywhere with you," Clara snapped, backing away from him, her gaze finding Flynn's, the desperate look in her dark eyes reluctantly tugging at his heart-strings. Flynn just wasn't used to receiving attention from women, especially English ones who appeared out of nowhere, all but declaring their love for him. He theorized Clara was probably cracked, and perhaps a little short-sighted; for Flynn there was no other explanation for her bizarre behaviour. But despite this, her pathetic plight appealed to his chivalrous instincts, slowly breaking down his barriers, making him waver like a wafer towards her.

"We have a ley-line to locate," Jacob said, grabbing her hand, "so get your head in the game, Guardian."

~*~

"Guardian!?" Clara said in disbelief, tearing her hand out of his.

"Yup," Jacob said, grabbing her other hand, "and we've got a busy day in the office ahead of us."

Magic isn't real," Flynn said pompously, avoiding Jacob's angry glance, becoming very interested in his bootlace instead.

"Yeah, it is," Jacob retorted.

"Well, show me."

"Show you what?"

"The magic that's what."

"No way."

"Well, I'm not going anywhere otherwise," Flynn said primly, trying not to quake in his size eleven boots.

Jacob stared at him, nostrils flaring, but Flynn stood his ground regardless. He knew he wasn't wanted here, but something about the combination of Clara's desperate gaze and Goth marking stones was strangely proving too much to resist. If Clara needed saving, he would save her, and if there was an archaeological discovery to be made on the way, he would make it. This heroic impulse made him puff out his chest, his eye catching Clara's, making her smile despite herself.

"All you have to do is point us in the right direction, bub," Jacob said, eyes narrowing, not missing this bit of byplay.

"When did you start calling people bub!?" Clara retorted, stung out of her silence.

"As of now," Jacob said, puffing out his own chest.

"Just call him Logan," Flynn joked half-heartedly, his X-Men reference going right over Clara's head.

"You're a Professor, not a comedian," Jacob snapped at Flynn, "so stick to the textbooks, bub."

"And I'm your Guardian," Clara said, rounding on Jacob. "How did that happen?"

"The real Librarian faked his death so I took the job," Jacob said, looking at her like she was mad, "after I trained you up, you came onboard as Guardian, and we've been savin' the world ever since. It helps keep our relationship fresh and excitin'," he said sarcastically, taking out a compass.

"We are not in a relationship," Clara spat, "and I'm most definitely not your Guardian either!"

"Yeah, we are, Clara," Jacob spat back, "we live in the Metropolitan Library, remember? Cosy little flat just above the Reference section, with space for a nursery" -

- "A nursery!?" Clara said, her eyes going wide.

"You're gonna retire," Jacob said, tears suddenly springing to his eyes, "and I would jobshare - we have it all planned out, Clara. I mean, the weddin's next month, kids are the next logical step. That's what you said, that you wanted to be a stay at home mom" -

- "I was offered a job with the Metropolitan Library," Flynn said, tugging at his tie, "but I never turned up for the interview. Not my kind of thing."

Clara stared at him, her lip trembling. "You idiot," she breathed, backing away from Flynn, shaking her head at him.

"What!?" Flynn said, doing a double-take. "What did I do!?"

"You're him, and he's you," Clara said, gesturing between him and Jacob, confusing Flynn further, "and I'm not the Guardian, Eve is, and I'm with him, not you," she said, turning to Jacob, gesturing to Flynn.

"What, Goofy's the Librarian, and he's got you on his arm?" Jacob said in disbelief.

"I'm a Librarian too - I mean so are you," Clara said, feeling like she was digging herself into a hole, "the four of us are Librarians, you, me, Cass and Zeke, but Flynn is like the Librarian"-

- "Eve's dead, Clara," Jacob said abruptly. "Been dead a long time too."

"What?" Clara said, taking a step back.

"She took a sword in the side for you," Jacob said, his voice cracking, "shoved you out of the way, saved your life. That's - that's why you became the Guardian, Clara. It was your way of honourin' her. We're - we were gonna name our first daughter after her."

Clara shook her head, not understanding, and not wanting to. "You became Librarian because the first Librarian faked his own death," she said slowly, struggling to stay calm, "and Eve was your Guardian, savvy?"

"Yeah," Jacob said, stepping forwards, "you and me had just started datin' when I got the letter. Everythin' was okay for a few years, then Eve died, and it all changed."

"Everything's changed," Clara said brokenly, her gaze finding Flynn's.

~*~

As they stood there, staring at each other, the wrong parts of the puzzle, distant gunshots rang through the air, making Flynn throw himself to the ground, arms wrapped around his head. "C'mon, the markers!" Jacob bellowed, grabbing Clara's hand, hauling her on, Clara grabbing Flynn's tie, dragging him with her, almost strangling him. After a few minutes of almost slow motion jogging, they finally reached a clearing, Clara stopping dead at the sight of the circle of stones.

"The Black Forest," she breathed, remembering a past that no longer existed.

"I've seen these stones in South America, Egypt, Holland," Jacob reeled off, "but what their purpose is, I dunno" -

- "How did we meet, Jake?" Clara asked suddenly, turning to him.

Jacob looked at her for a long moment, before shaking his head, exhaling sharply. "I was takin' night classes in Medieval and Renaissance Studies," he said, tears springing to his eyes again, "I'd skipped college to work for my dad, but when he died, I sold the business - I - I couldn't live with the lie anymore, pretendin' to be somethin' I wasn't. So I started studyin' and that's when I saw you, most beautiful woman I ever seen, with an amazin' accent and brains to boot. I gave you my number, we went for a beer, and the rest was history."

"I don't drink beer," Clara said coldly.

"Well, my Clara did," Jacob snapped, jabbing his finger at her.

"Um, there's gunshots and angry people firing the aforementioned gunshots," Flynn said nervously, wringing his hands.

"You said Eve saved my life," Clara demanded, ignoring Flynn. "What happened that day she died?"

Jacob ran his hand over his head, rumpling up his hair, the gesture suddenly triggering something in Clara, the memory of her own hands doing the exact same thing. But it wasn't her memory, and it wasn't her either. It was a whole other Clara altogether, one she didn't want to know. "She stopped your mother from stealin' the Library," he said, making Clara freeze, "she and Dulaque had been havin' it off behind your dad's back, whilst plannin' to take the Library from right under his nose."

Clara suddenly sat down on a stone, her legs giving way beneath her, Flynn trying and failing to catch her.

"You really don't know any of this?" Jacob said, his voice cracking as he knelt down beside her.

Clara shook her head, unable to speak.

"Judson runs the Annex now," Jacob said slowly, as though she was an imbecile, "he's slowin' down a bit, so your dad and Charlene took over the Library. It was your dad that put me forward for the job, the Library sendin' me a letter at his behest. Charlene weren't too happy about me gettin' in through the back door, but your dad thinks rules are made to be broken, so there you go. But your mom and Dulaque tried to take the Library, and you walked in on them, tried to stop them. Your mom... your mom went for you with Excalibur, and Eve" -

- "What happened to my mother and Dulaque?" Clara choked out, barely able to speak, Flynn handing her his handkerchief.

"They went on the run," Jacob said, exhaling sharply again. "Been tryin' to track them down ever since, but it's like chasin' smoke. Now there's magic in the world and I can't do damn all about it 'cept damage control."

"Magic doesn't exist," Flynn said smartly.

"They did that!?" Clara cried, ignoring Flynn again. "They set magic loose!?"

"I did say you tried to stop them," Jacob said tiredly, standing up. "Now technology's failin', monsters are risin', wars breakin' out"-

- "What, and you're letting me bring a baby into this world!?" Clara said in disbelief, the tears rolling down her face in earnest now. "I'm retiring and you're planning on going part-time!? Are you insane!?"

"Gotta snatch happiness while we can," Jacob said, "before somebody snatches it from us."

"These are the wrong kind of trees," Flynn said suddenly, startling them.

"What?" Jacob snapped, stalking over to him.

"I'm just saying the native species of tree on this side of the Ukraine would be the oak or the hornbeam," Flynn said pompously, plucking a leaf, "not these pine-trees which are completely out of place."

"And your point is?" Jacob growled.

"There's a pattern amongst the pine-trees," Flynn said, gesturing about him, "and these gunshots are definitely getting closer," he said anxiously, glancing over his shoulder.

"What are those metal spikes?" Clara said shakily, gesturing at the stones with Flynn's handkerchief. "I've never seen them before."

"For resonance," Jacob said, his jaw tightening.

"Why?" Clara pressed, wiping her eyes.

"It's a teleportation device," Jacob explained, kicking a stone.

"Teleportation doesn't exist," Flynn said loftily, before screaming like a banshee as several bullets suddenly whizzed past his head, striking the stones behind him. "I'm too young to die!" he screeched, running wildly in circles, rather like a headless chicken.

Jacob looked at Clara, his heart breaking in his eyes. Without a word, he suddenly turned and thumped the nearest metal spike, setting off the teleportation sequence, waves of golden energy surging through the air. "Self-enforcing harmonic resonance," he yelled, striding forwards, rolling up his sleeves.

"What the hell are you doing!?" Clara cried, falling to her knees, the wind whipping the hair into her eyes.

"I'm savin' you!" he bellowed, meeting the gunmen head on, armed with only his bare hands.

"Jacob, no!" Clara screamed, only to fade out of existence as the bullets ended his.

When my, time comes around
Lay me gently in the cold dark earth
No grave, can hold my body down
I'll crawl home to her...