Fly-By-Flynn

Clara slowed to a stop at the sight of Ezekiel in a giant golden birdcage suspended from the ceiling, her hand flying to her mouth in shock. It was Ezekiel, and then it wasn't, his face wrinkled almost beyond recognition, his grey beard reaching the ground, shaggy hair falling into his no longer shifty eyes. "Oh, my God," Clara breathed, turning to Circe, "what have you done to him?"

"It wasn't me but time," Circe said, spreading her hands.

"What?"

"He has spent several centuries in my company," Circe said, circling the cage. "I just couldn't bear to part with him."

"Fix him," Clara demanded, her dark eyes glittering amidst the pale landscape of her face.

"Nobody can turn back time," Circe said, "not even me."

"But he's only just got here!"

"And you arrived too late," Circe said simply.

"That's poppycock," Clara argued, stepping forwards. "I came through right after him."

Circe just smiled, before walking away, leaving Clara on her own. Where she went, Clara didn't know, for like before, there were no doorways or windows, only the sound of the sea.

"Zeke?" Clara called up, her voice cracking.

Ezekiel raised his head, his rheumy eyes kindling with faint recognition at the sound of her voice. "C-Claire?" he whispered, his voice rusty, as if he hadn't spoken for the centuries Circe had spoken of.

"It's Clara, Zeke, Clara," she said, tears springing to her eyes.

"Clara?" Ezekiel answered, his lined brow furrowing even further.

"Yes, it's me, Clara," she said urgently. "Do you remember me?"

He stared at her, the recognition fading from his face. "Who are you?" he croaked, looking confused again. "Why are you annoying me?"

"I'm not annoying you!" Clara snapped. "I'm bloody rescuing you!" To prove her point, she made a futile leap for the birdcage, only for her satin slippers to hit terra firma again.

"Rescue me from what!?" Ezekiel said incredulously.

"From - from this!" Clara cried, gesturing to his gilded prison. "From being kept in a coop for all eternity!"

"Bit late in the day for that, isn't it?" a familiar voice observed coolly behind Clara, making her whirl around, only to find herself facing Flynn.

Clara did a dramatic double-take. "What - how?" she stuttered, taking a step back.

"None of your beeswax," Flynn said pompously.

"Oh, go to hell!" Clara snapped, losing what was left of her temper.

"Been there, done that - BORING!" Flynn sing-songed.

"We - we need to get out of here," Clara said, fighting the urge to throttle him with his own cravat. "And now, like right now!"

"We need to lighten up," Flynn said lightly. "Like a lovely lightbulb!"

"Why are you here?" Clara said, whirling on him. "And how did you get here!?"

"I came in through the back door," Flynn said, looking at her like she was an imbecile. "How else? By flying Hoover?"

"Who's to say you're even you?" Clara challenged, sidestepping the question. "You might just be an illusion" -

- "I'm no illusion, Hartley, auditory or otherwise," Flynn snapped, grabbing her wrist. "I got a babbling mess of a message from Jenkins, saying the whole place was in meltdown - that Ezekiel had been abducted by a disembodied arm, and that you'd jumped into a cabinet; with Jacob running riot through Reference in nothing but his boxer shorts, and Eve and Cassandra out trying to capture a Minotaur on the loose in lower Manhattan."

"You forgot the hell-demon," Clara said quietly, shifting awkwardly from one foot to the next.

"I was getting to that part," Flynn said, letting go of her. "But did I not mention Minotaur!?"

"You did," Circe said from behind them, making them whip around.

"Your work?" Flynn asked, raising an ironic eyebrow.

"The Minotaur is a side-line I've started recently, a little project to pass the time. However, there's been a few... hiccups," Circe paused delicately, clasping her hands behind her back. "But never mind that," Circe then smiled, tilting her head to the side. "It's been a while, Flynn. Too long for my taste."

Flynn flushed hotly and horribly.

"Don't say you did," Clara whispered, her stomach turning.

"I did," Flynn said, closing his eyes with a wince.

But now here you are again
So let's skip the "how you been"...