It took all but a split second to arrive, with Flynn's ability to use any door. The notes from Jenkins helped as well.

It wasn't that Sara wanted to go home — she had enough of that place — but she did have to wonder how her mother was faring in all of this. She didn't trust her father would be civil without her around. It wasn't as if she could call right now either. No reception all the way out... wherever the hell they were.

"How can you handle this?" Sara asked out of the blue.

Flynn cast only the slightest of glances to her before refocusing on the path ahead of him. "Handle what?"

"Being away from family. Friends."

"I have no friends."

"Family then."

Briefly, Flynn stopped, whirled on his heels and said, "We need to focus up, Sara. Okay? We can't be thinking of useless–!" He clenched his teeth for control, so hard that it made his jaw hurt.nEverything came rushing back when she asked that stupid question; everything and everyone he lost to this ridiculous job, and for what? Saving the world? The world was always ending.

Eventually, he slackened his jaw and continued on a different train of thought. "This is the place. Come on."

Before them was a pyramid amidst the sand dunes, which they were tired of by this point. Sand: it really did get everywhere. Still they pressed on, and the blackened moonlight hid them. Then as they approached a plateau of smooth rock they heard the mysterious thrumming of something heavy. Their hearts seemed to stop beating.

Sara heard an indistinct voice before it even registered in Flynn's mind, so she grabbed him and pinned him against a pillar, covering his mouth. She put a finger of hers to her own mouth, indicating that he needed to stay quiet, and she felt something like a tremor. Then the truck lurched to a halt, and the shaking subsided.

What the hell is that doing all the way out here? she inwardly wondered.

Instantly, Flynn recognised the people climbing out of the vehicle. He let out a muffled exclamation, however, it was immediately hushed by her. A puff of air escaped his nostrils.

Sara waited until the coast was clear to remove her hand. "What?" she snapped, sotto voce.

"I know them."

"Oh, great. Maybe you can tell them to bugger off," Sara muttered as she peered around the corner again. "Who are they?"

"Doesn't matter," he replied in a whisper. "We just need to keep them away."

"Kick their arse. Got it," Sara bolted for the bad guys without another word or thought.

"No, that's–!" By the time he started to finish talking she was already gone. The lone finger he had lifted joined the others in a fist that dropped to his side. Flynn sighed in defeat. "Not what I had in mind."

"Oy!" Sara shouted, snagging their attention before they reached the door. One of them, a dark-haired woman, grabbed hers as well. "Ooh, 'ello," While biting her lip, she looked her up and down. "Nice BDSM getup you're donnin'. What're you doin' later?"

"Who the hell are you?" she demanded.

"Heeyyy, you're from the Kingdom, eh? What's that, Londoner? GB? Definitely not Cockney–" The sound of multiple guns clicking cut her right off. "Ahhh, heh. Gun types. I'm more of a knife lass, but since I forgot to bring one–"

"I'm not asking again."

Sara looked behind her to see if Flynn was still back there. Unfortunately, she couldn't tell, even with her abilities. Either he went inside, out of her range, or he was insanely great at hiding.

"Hey! Are you listening to me?"

Sara masticated a moment as she gradually slid her a scowl. "Sara Wheeler," she clinically replied. "And, not to sound too cheesy, your worst nightmare."

"Really?" The mystery woman levelled a grin, intrigued by Sara's mettle.

Following a curt nod, Sara waved her hand and knocked out everyone else around them, with the exception of Flynn. Clocking the noticeably shocked expression, she smirked. "What's wrong, Lamia? I haven't scared you, have I?"

Panic gripped her throat like a python, making it nigh impossible to talk. "How do you know my name?"

"Oh, I know everything about you, sweetheart. Everything except for what you stand for. I could never understand that."

"Using magic to destroy the world? What's so wrong with that?"

A soft hum emitted from Sara's chest. Her eyes caught sight of Flynn scurrying inside the pyramid, to which she smiled at, despite him wearing the perception shifter. There was no way she could ignore him. She diverted her focus back to Lamia. "Except you're forgetting two things."

With a tilt of her head, Lamia asked, "Which is?"

"You can't control it," Sara brought up her hand, now glowing with telekinetic energy. "I should know."

Mortified, Lamia backed up two paces. "What is the second thing?"

"The one person who is always where you seem to be."

That was when her stomach dropped to her bowels. "The Librarian," she uttered, voice trembling with rage.

"Oh yes!" Just as Lamia was about to sprint off, Sara grabbed her by the arm and yanked her back. "Ah-ah! You and I? We're talking."

"Not now. I have a pest to exterminate."

Sara rushed Lamia and tacked her to a nearby pillar by the neck with her forearm. "I'm sorry, what were you saying?" She felt Lamia moving under her grasp. "If you do anything other than surrender–"

"You'll what? Hit me?" she managed to get past out past Sara's grip. "I'd love to see you try. Go ahead, hit me."

As an idea, or rather, a song popped into her head, she smirked and loosened her hold. Sara dislodged her arm from Lamia's neck and watched her fall to the ground, slumped over her own lower-half. She circled her, like a huntress sizing up her prey, but in a strut, moving to the beat of a tune only she could hear.

Lamia's eyes narrowed. "You are as crazy as he is."

"Maybe that's why we click. Crazy, crazy, crazier together. Two loons in a tree!" Sara started singing, "You may be right–"

"If you don't mind, could you skip the tunes? If we're going to fight, I'd like to do it sometime today."

"You got it," she mumbled while lifting her to her feet and grinned. "There you are. Need anything before we get started?"

"Wha–?"

Sara whirled gracefully and elbowed her in the face, then turned again to knee her in both ribs. Another knee thrust into her gut, knocking her out of wind. While she was temporarily stunned, she moved behind her, grabbed her by the arm, rolled her off Sara's hip and flipped her over her shoulder.

Her body bounced a second before falling with a loud slap on the floor. A swift kick to her temple with Sara's platform trainers conked her right out.

As she stared at her still body, she rolled her shoulders and shook off the tension. "Art of confusion," Sara glanced at her feet. "And he said these were a bad idea."

A single gunshot echoed throughout the pyramid and reached outside. This made Sara's heart sink to her gut.

"Flynn!"

Sara made a mad dash inside, where she searched every room until she found him. Flynn laid on the ground beside a sarcophagus, bleeding and in shock; alone, his attacker gone. She froze a moment, taking in the horrifying sight and trying to comprehend it. Soon after, she sprinted in the rest of the way and slid to him as if he were home base.

Frantically, she searched for the bullet's entry point. As soon as she found it, she wished she hadn't. He was hit in his right brachial artery. Thrown into a panic, she let out a terrified moan and swiftly put pressure on it.

"No," she repeatedly whimpered. "God, no. Please. No, no, no, no, no!"

"Are you okay? You look all... blurry."

She was able to chuckle, despite being fear-stricken. "I'm fine. It's you I'm worried about."

"I was shot. Right here," He pointed to the wound with his one good hand.

"Yeah, I see," she quavered. "Nine millimetre. Can you move your arm? Squeeze my hand."

He could and did, but it was excruciating. He cried out in agony; nausea set in.

"Okay, okay," she soothed. "Good. No nerve damage."

Flynn glanced around the chamber, realising he was still within the pyramid. "Did I do it?" he asked through laboured breaths.

Though she was crumbling inside, she had to smile at him. She was so proud of him. "Yeah," Her chin quivered. "You did. Just like you always do."

"What was it? I didn't get to see it before I–" An explosion of pain halted his thought. He screamed, and contorted his body until he was likened to a croquet hoop, then flopped back down onto the stone floor.

She winced and tensed up along with him, hating seeing him like this. Sara gripped his fingers. "It's all right. Stay with me, okay?"

"I'm not dreaming, am I? I really got shot?"

Vehemently, she nodded. "Yeah."

Flynn sniffed hard and deeply exhaled through the pain. "That... is unfortunate. We finally got here and now I'm dying."

"Well, you're not dying," Going off his faint look of puzzlement, she clarified, intense emotion clinging to her voice. "Y-you're immortal. Your cells can regenerate, or whatever the hell it is... Right?" She expected him to use that as a cue to start healing himself. "Regenerate!" she yelled, her voice cracking.

"Can't," he simply replied, barely with it. His words came clipped and slurred. "Library... s... missing–"

"I know, that's why I'm here! Helping you find the damn thing!"

Flynn continued without a beat, "– Not... how it works, Sara."

Her facial features scantily twitched while the rest of her body began shaking profusely. Her cold, clammy hands tightened up, wanting to punch something, but there was nothing except for herself. She wouldn't do that in front of him. At least, not until he completely lost consciousness.

Sara's eyes flicked to a stone chair. With a primal holler, kicked it over on its side. Her screams became so harsh, so tortured. "God f–!" She saw him gazing up at her, sleepily, yet also admonishing her for a swear she didn't get to make; for losing her beautiful mind. "Sorry. It's just– This would happen to me. You were the one person I could be myself with, and you're–"

"It's okay. Been around for too long."

"It's not okay. Nothing about this is okay. You're forty-one," She started weeping at the thought of it. "God, you're forty-one. You didn't even get to live."

"I've lived more this week than I have in a long time."

Sara smiled, grateful for the time they had, though the mirth never reached her eyes. "Yeah, me too. But I don't know what else to do," It wasn't until she caught a glow in the bottom of her vision that her mood shifted. It came from her hands. A new glow this time. Sara's widened, deep blue eyes studied them. "Flynn?"

"Who knows? Maybe I'll see it. The Library."

"Flynn?"

"Does it have an afterlife it goes to?"

Sara rolled her eyes and did what she felt was right. She put her hand over his wound, and in seconds, fragments of the bullet slipped out, and began to heal from the inside out.

"Maybe it is the afterlife, and I've been dead this whole time. It would explain a lot," he went on, unaware his health was somewhat improving. "Hey, since this might be it, I have something I want to tell you."

"Seriously, Flynn–?"

"Let me finish. It's not easy for me, so I'll just say it: I love you. Admittedly, I don't entirely know what love is. I know a lot of things, but love isn't one of them. I do know that I'm happier now than I've ever been, and I think it's because of you."

"Flynn!"

"What?" he shrieked. "Can't you see that I'm professing my feelings to you?"

She didn't answer. Rather, she held up the bigger part of the bullet that once occupied a space near his brachial artery.

He slapped his free hand over his mouth, his eyes bugging out. At breakneck speed, took a gander at his now healed shoulder. He removed his other hand and snatched the bullet fragment. "H-how did you do that?" Little by little, he sat up without noticing, too engrossed.

With a flamboyant gesture, she answered, "Magic! Actually, I don't know. My hands were doing weird things and I went with it."

"Weird things," he echoed. He had to make sure he heard correctly. "Y-you healed me? You didn't know you could do that?"

She shook her head. "Just found out."

"Biokinesis. That's–" The corner of Flynn's mouth quirked up into a half-smile. "Anything else I should know about?"

"Well, I can see things, even before they happen, hear things that others can't."

"Can you–?"

She stared blank-faced at him. "Read your mind? Yes. I didn't tell you before because I knew you would have thought I was insane."

"Insane?" Flynn tilted his head and slid her a look that was almost enticing. "Sara, I eat insanity for breakfast. And lunch... and dinner. And in between snacks. Actually–"

A wheezy chortle left her lungs before pulling him in for a hug, stunning him for a few seconds. "Come here, you."

Muffled laughter came from them both. Neither expected anything good to come out of this endeavour. Now that it had, they could rest a little easier.  The joy lasted until Sara squeezed on his arm.

"AHHH AH-AHH! GOD!"

Hastily, she let him go. "Sorry, sorry. It's okay. You're not out of the woods yet. You've lost a lot of blood."

"Great. I have to deal with that on top of getting out of here alive."

Sara groaned as she stood up and for a second time when she helped him to his feet. "Sorry you're inconvenienced, mate. Who were those people, anyway?"

The Serpent Brother-hood," he replied and brushed himself off.

"Oh, is that all?" she sardonically uttered. "Kind of a daft name, to be honest."

"It is derived from the serpent that brought knowledge to Adam and Eve."

"Like I said, daft. And they want you dead?"

"They want me out of the way."

"So, dead?"

"If need be," Flynn said.

This filled Sara with determination. She couldn't let them take the only being with whom she had shared so much joy and friendship. She squared her shoulders and prepared for the worst. "Fat chance," she muttered before striding off in the direction they came in.

"Woah, woah," Flynn hobbled after her, calling out to her. "Sara, there's more going on than you're aware of."

"Bring it on! I'll burn them all down."

"That's a tad overkill," he murmured.

Sara immediately stopped and whirled around to face him, regarding him with vexed incredulity. "You'd rather they lived?"

"Honestly, yes," he answered, much to her chagrin. "It would give them a chance to change their minds, become better people."

"You are so naive."

That was when he saw it; the familiar burning in her eyes and her soul. It came with the past she had, moments she had avoided, memories she had buried. Flynn felt the heart-wrenching sadness that came from holding these things and the burden it brought. He enfolded her and wished he could somehow have her go back to when she was happy. Flynn made sure she knew he loved her, that she always would be loved, and that she had no reason to be resentful. They ruined her, but he could change her, if she wanted him to.

Her anger receded, making way for a calm to wash over her. Sara could just about hear his heart beating, slow and steady, reminding her how precious human life is. She almost felt sorry for how she acted before — almost.

Sara had no idea why they were holding each other for a second time, but she couldn't deny her gratitude. She also couldn't deny that they didn't have time for this mush.

She pulled away from him, then looked up into his eyes, becoming lost in them. "We should–" The rest of her thought would have been impulsive and dangerous, something she would have acted on if she hadn't yanked herself out of the trance she was in. "W-we should go. Before it gets dark."

"Agreed," Flynn stepped aside and made way for her. "Ladies first?"

She slid him a suspicious look as she walked past him. "I can't tell if you're being chivalrous or cowardly."

"Let's go with chivalrous."

She held back her laughter by a hair. "Right. So, you're not sending me in first because I'm supposed to protect you?"

"Exactly."

"Because you don't need that?"

"No, I do not!" he exclaimed in a raspy voice, followed by an immediate, repeated clear of his throat. Calmly, he reiterated, "I don't. In fact–" Flynn tugged her back and stepped ahead of her. "I'll go."

"You know what? I'm actually okay with keeping you safe. It's the least I could do," Suddenly, her ears pricked to attention. Sara stuck out an arm in front of Flynn, stopping him. "You hear that? Boots."

It took a full five seconds before he heard it too. "Military, probably steel-toed."

"Typical of the Brother-hood?"

"Not typical, no, but with the perception shifters it should be fine."

"Or, and this is just a suggestion, we can try something else."

An eyebrow of his arched, and rather puzzled by what she could possibly have in mind when their only exit was most likely swarming with undesirable people, he had to question her sanity.

Sara put one of each hand on his shoulders and eyed him intently. "I need you to trust me."

"Why, what are you going to do?"

Sara closed her eyes, held his hand and concentrated on making sure they, most of all Flynn, stayed safe. All her energy honed in on that one thought, and little by little, with the unwitting help of Flynn, something amazing happened.

Though she couldn't see it, a protective barrier formed around them; nothing could get in, and as Flynn touched it from inside, he found nothing could get out either.

A tiny giggle of awe and exultation came out of him, but his mood shifted once he saw her nose bleeding. "Sara?"

Slowly, she peeled her eyes open, the dull light that gave her a headache making her wish she kept them closed. "I don't know how long I can hold this for. We've gotta go."

"What, through them?" he incredulously asked.

"You got any better ideas?"

"You have gone insane."

"C'mon!" Sara darted for the entrance, dragging him along with her.

The two ran, one laughing, the other screaming his head off, repeatedly saying how he was going to be sick. Shots were fired, but none of them landed, not while the bubble they were in was active. There was one man who stood between them and their exit.

"Ohhhh–!" Flynn tightly shut his eyes in anticipation of the man slipping in with them. He could not have been more wrong.

The barrier knocked him down and rolled over his body. Nothing, not even dust could penetrate their bubble. It was theirs and theirs alone.

Once they reached the outside, a dozen more men with armoured cars surrounded them, but it wasn't anyone from the Serpent Brother-hood.

Sara and Flynn came to a halt. They looked at one another, breathing heavily, blood oozing from Sara's nose. Flynn wiped it away with his thumb, and lightly smiled at her, paying no mind to the goings-on around them.

These people were here to 'save her.' She knew it, and it pissed her off to no end. Sara glowered darkly at each and every single one of those men.

"Look," Flynn spoke up at last. "You got me here. Maybe it's time you went home."

A faint, near imperceptible twitch of her head was her only reaction to his voice at