This could not be happening.

Jenkins couldn't lose someone else. Not this soon. He'd only just met this new family. They'd only just come into his life.

He'd been so stubborn at the beginning. Pretending as if they were nothing, as if their presence didn't brighten the annex every morning. Now he was just beginning to lean on them. To consider them his.

And now Ezekiel was dead.

Like a punch line to a bad joke.

This could not be happening.

Think. Think.

He could fix this. He had thousands of years under his belt and experiences worth their weight in gold. He could fix this. He had to fix this.

Eve was trying to force the magic potion down Ezekiel's throat. He wanted to tell her it wouldn't work, that you couldn't heal a dead person. But the words were stuck in his throat.

Think. Think.

All they had to do was get the blood flowing again. Get the blood flowing and get the magic potion inside of him. Easy.

Step one. Blood flow.

"Mr. Stone," Jenkins barked, so suddenly it shocked even him. Jake, however, turned slowly, like he was moving through syrup.

"Go get the orb. The one you found today. The Library filed it. Go. Now."

To his credit, Jake didn't question him. He just bolted forward, taking in the urgency in Jenkins' voice.

"What's going on?" Cassandra asked, because she would ask the questions.

"We were seconds too late. Just seconds. That's the good news," he offered, already moving. He grabbed the cup from Eve, not even looking at her. She made no move to take it back. Her hands were running through Ezekiel's hair.

"What?" Cassandra called after him, and he couldn't help the huff that slipped from his nose.

"We need to get this-" he help up the magic potion, swirling what was left around the cup "-inside of him. Step one, we need the blood flowing again. To get the blood moving we need the heart pumping. To get the heart pumping-"

"We need the orb!" Cassandra gasped. Her entire face lit up like a sunrise. Jenkins had never been more thankful for her as he was today. She was just steps behind him. "The orb's energy. Pure energy. Like electricity. So, if we can connect that to his heart somehow, we could mimic the results of electric impulses going to the heart. Like a pacemaker! It'd last just long enough for the potion to do its thing. That... that might work."

"Exactly."

"But..."

"But? What but?" Eve asked. Jenkins had almost forgotten she was there.

"But it could also overload. That much energy... Imagine a pacemaker exploding inside your chest." Cassandra spoke slowly and he could tell she was afraid to say it out loud. He was afraid to even consider it. What if he'd overlooked something? A magical solution that could fix him. What if this was a crucial mistake-

"He's already dead." Eve's voice was cold as ice. "Do it."

Cassandra and Jenkins both nodded, their expressions firm.

He could fix this... They could fix this.

On the other side of the room Ezekiel lay on the table. Still... so still. He looked small too. And young, oh so young. It was easy to forget how young he was. Young and small and already he'd given his life to the Library.

What were they going to tell Flynn? Another person had left him, and this time it was someone he'd brought into this world. He had invited Ezekiel to join the Library and now... now they'd all paid the price.

No. This is going to work.

It had to.

"How are you going to forgo the digestive system?" Cassandra was suddenly by his side. There was a smile on her face, but the skin around her eyes were too tight, and her eyes were glistening with unshed tears. Still, she was a comfort.

He held up a syringe. Inside the magic potion was ready.

"You're going to go straight into the blood stream... Will that work?"

"Probably," he answered, because it was magic so who knew how it really worked.

She seemed to take it as an answer though, because she nodded firmly and then gently took the syringe out of his hand. "Let me."

A minute later found the four of them huddled around Ezekiel.

Dead people don't look like they're sleeping. They just look like they're dead. Ezekiel was too pale and still for sleep. He looked like he'd never wake up again.

Please, let this work.

Jenkins looked back up at the other Librarians. On one side, Jake was posed with the orb directly above Ezekiel's chest. On the other, Cassandra was waiting with the syringe. Eve stood beside her, one hand on Ezekiel's shoulder, as if offering support.

"Remember Mr. Stone, just long enough for Miss. Cillian to inject him. No more."

Jake nodded. Cassandra nodded. Eve nodded.

"Alright then. Let's begin."

At first when Jake placed the orb on Ezekiel's chest, nothing happened. The four of them stood still, hearts in their throats. For a second that lasted a life time, Jenkins thought he'd been wrong.

Then all at once Ezekiel was moving. His chest was yanked upward, like a puppet on strings. The rest of his body twitched and convulsed. In all his thousands of years, Jenkins had never seen something so horrible.

Cassandra didn't hesitate. She pushed the needle into the crook of his arm.

Even as both Librarians pulled away, Ezekiel didn't stop. His entire body was shuddering on the table. There was blood dribbling from the wound. Eve wrapped her arms around his shoulders, trying to ground him.

Then, just as suddenly as it had begun, he was still again.

Second ticked by and no one moved. Dread crashed over them like a wave in a storm. It hadn't taken Eve this long to wake up, and it'd worked immediately with Flynn. But now Ezekiel was still silent and he still looked so dead.

But then the blood disappeared.

Ezekiel came back all at once. His chest shot upward, of its own accord this time, and his eyes flew open, and suddenly he was half way off the table, gasping for breath.

Eve got to him first, gathering him in her arms fiercely. He was coughing so hard Jenkins was afraid he'd throw up a lung. But then Jake was there to pat him on the back gently, and Cassandra was calming him down with quiet words.

Ezekiel Jones was alive again.

"You miss me?"