cahooted | [PSL] The Return to King Solomon's Mines Ultimate Fix It (for slapthelibrarian)

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[PSL] The Return to King Solomon's Mines Ultimate Fix It (for slapthelibrarian)

"Yeah, you know what, I really don't think we should cross that."

It's a moot point, of course, and Flynn doesn't mean it because there is no way he's turning back now. Part of him wonders if he should tell Nicole about his conversation with Judson and mention that Judson had explicitly instructed him to stay away from this place. But this isn't an ordinary mission and Flynn isn't in his ordinary state of mind. And who knew, maybe Judson had contacted Nicole already and she is just humoring Flynn. If she is, nothing in her face gives it away and he loves her just a little for that.

It's been... difficult to focus with all the questions raging in his head.

Had his father ever been affiliated with the Library? It doesn't seem likely; but if he hadn't, how did Judson know about the Book of Solomon? And did it mean that if Flynn hadn't become the Librarian, he would have become one of the Masons? Were the Masons linked to the Library? Did his mother know? Because honestly, finding his drawings in his bag right when he needed them had just been a tiny little bit suspicious, is all.

And that bridge really shouldn't work.

There are no support beams, it's just that, a stony path over a pit of lava (the biggest pit of lava he has ever seen, actually, and he has seen... four so far) and, no. This isn't rotten wood territory, this is challenging the actual laws of physics. It's just not how bridges work.

"That is just not how bridges work."

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Flynn is already seeking out the knots, working them with nimble fingers to get them untied. "Yes, he was. They were... they were really close. I thought. My mom always said they were like brothers, I..." Flynn shakes his head, struggling when the feelings of betrayal threaten to choke him again. He needs to focus but it's just so hard.

"You won't get away with this, Jerry!" he yells up to the man in response. Which of course is feeble but it feels good to get it off his chest. There are a lot of other things he wants to yell, too, but they are not very productive.

"I think I can get us out of these ropes. You don't happen to have any ideas what we could do about all those guards? And their spears. And their guns. And their knives..." His eyes wander up to the book.

"Maybe I can get him to talk. Distract him."

Nicole catches on quickly to what Flynn's doing, and she starts surreptitiously doing the same. Ropes can't hold them, however thick they might be. And at the rate Flynn's going, determination alone will get them out. Well, determination, hurt, and rage, three things Nicole is very intimately acquainted with.

"It's a bit of a long shot, but- oftentimes, when two men are closely connected with each other, and one of them finds someone he likes, there can be a bit of friendly competition." She's not speaking from any sort of experience at all, of course, just hypothesizing about what could have possibly happened. Granted, she didn't know Flynn's father or mother, and she barely knows Jerry, so she realizes she could be quite a bit far from the mark.

"I don't need weapons to disable a man. But I don't want to become a pincushion or a target for their bullets." If she's quick enough, she might be able to knock some of them out before they have time to reach for their weapons, but it's difficult to predict success or failure while they're still tied up with ropes.

"But if you distract him, that will buy both of us some time. I don't want you getting in the crossfire, though." They need to survive this, and her Guardian instincts are telling her not to let Flynn draw attention to himself.

"Just be careful about Samir." Flynn keeps struggling with the knots but to Jerry's men his hands stay calmly in place as he works his Houdini magic. Nicole's observations don't sit well with him. He remembers karaoke and the memory brings an angry nausea, the thought of singing a song with his mother and his father's killer in their living room almost too much to bear. How dare he? How dare he?

The thought makes him tear on the restraints a little too impatiently and the knot tightens up again, forcing him to start over. "Why did you do it?" he calls up to Jerry, making him glance up from the book. "I thought you were friends! He trusted you! I trusted you!"

"It's his own fault! All he had to do is tell me. All he had to do was not get in the way!"

"You can't use the book, Jerry! You just can't! It's not gonna make you rich, it's gonna destroy the world!"

"Rich!" Jerry barks out an angry laugh. "Who cares about riches? This is about my life! The one that was taken from me!"

Ah. There they go, that's more like it.

Flynn leans back slightly into Nicole. "Seems to be working. They can't just not soliloquy, can they."

"I'm always careful, Flynn." Except when she's jumping from planes with no chute or going over waterfalls, although that last one was an accident. Nicole's not nearly as skilled with undoing the knots as Flynn is, but she's still working doggedly away at trying to help get them untied. It might be just her imagination, but she can practically feel rage emanating from him. Inwardly, she hopes this revelation about Jerry and his connections to Flynn's family doesn't destroy him. It's insidious, how that happens, but it can be completely devastating in the end.

Her heart sinks when Flynn resumes calling out to Jerry. She feels for Flynn, she really does. But this is not something she can fix, no more than Flynn could fix the betrayal she felt with Wilde. All she can do is be supportive and understanding, as he was.

"Good job getting him to reveal more of his plan," Nicole replies, nodding her approval at what Flynn's managed to accomplish. "I can't believe he's got all that power available to him, and yet he's not remotely interested in gaining riches. But for some, undoing the wrongs they think have been done to them is more important than all the gold in the world." It in no way justifies what Jerry's done, or how he stabbed Flynn in the back. But as difficult as it is to accept, Nicole can understand the thinking behind it all.

"He won't be destroying the world, not on my watch. Or on yours." She knows Flynn, and she knows he won't be content to just sit back and watch.

Yeah, some other time and place he would have taken that assessment as grounds to start a debate on their semantic differences concerning the word 'careful'. Thankfully, he considers their current predicament a little more important right now.

"You're right he won't." With one last tug Flynn allows the ropes to slide free. Jerry's men seem distracted, engulfed in the ritual the man is starting up on top. Flynn wonders if they even know why they are here. They must realize at this point that this can't be good; how could you turn off your brain for money he would never understand but even if you didn't care for other people certainly you had to care a little about the world you lived in? If only for the very selfish reason that it was the world you were supposed to spend your blood money in? He will never understand mercenaries.

"Alright, I'm going up there, trying to get him to spill the beans some more. Maybe I can take the book from him." And maybe trying to get another hit in but that goes without saying. "Are you going to be okay down here?"

He had always hated leaving Nicole to deal with superior numbers and he worries that one day, having to split up like this would end badly and with neverending regret. But when the fate of the world is at stake there was hardly time for such debates.

It's something they can discuss (or not) if they survive this, and if the world doesn't end right here and now.

She can't help but grin a little as the ropes slide free. Flynn is a great many things, but resourceful and skillful are two things that she appreciates very much, especially right now in this current situation. As for Jerry's men, Nicole watches them with a mixture of disdain and something like vague pity. They probably don't know why they're here, other than the fact that Jerry most likely sweet-talked them with promises of infinite riches and immortality, or something along those lines. It's what all men with delusions of grandeur do.

"I'll be fine. I always am. But Flynn, be careful. I know you will be, but-" Nicole can't help but look slightly concerned for his safety. She can't be the mother hen all the time; there are times when Flynn has to do things on his own, but she will never be able to stop worrying about him.

He's not the only one who worries every time they have to split up. But both of them know full well that when the fate of the entire world is on the line, sometimes they have to do the opposite of what they want.

"Call if you need help, all right?" They don't have time for her to emphasize how serious she is about this. Now is not the time for daredevil heroics.

"I will. And you, too." He holds her gaze for a moment; he means it. If she needs help, he'll come running, this doesn't just go one way.

With another careful gaze at Jerry's men he slinks off in to the darkness, using the shades of the high towering columns and plateaus to sneak over to the stairs, looking for a way to make it there undetected. There isn't much time – if Jerry really knows how to speak the incantations he can wreak havoc before Flynn even makes it halfway up to him. On the other hand, if he gets impatient this might be over before he even gets a shot.

But then Jerry's incantations prove to be just the distraction they need. The chamber rumbles ominously, tendrils of light flickering high into the air and the goons stare up in surprised fascination – even Samir.

Flynn takes his chance and hurries up the stairs, positive that he didn't see any guard going up with Jerry. "Stop it right there!"

While Flynn is doing that, Nicole turns her attention to the men who were, up until recently, just milling idly about. If she can just incapacitate all of them (a tall order when it's her against all of them), that'll make their escape a lot easier. "Hey, you!" She shouts at them, trying to gain their attention. It succeeds, and they all turn and start to close in on her.

"Did you know I can kill a man 57 different ways?" She grins her best psychopathic grin, deciding that she might as well have fun with this. "It started out as a hobby, and just went on from there. I'm going to practice all 57 ways on you." And with that, Nicole's fight begins, but she makes sure to keep one ear trained on what's going on above her, hoping she'll hear it if something goes wrong with Flynn's efforts. He's resourceful, but he's also reckless. But that's what he has her for, to act as his backup if needed.

The second she takes to listen to Flynn's progress is the same second that one of Jerry's goons sneaks in and sucker punches her, sending her landing heavily against one of the stone pillars in the room. It knocks the breath out of her, but she doesn't have a second to recover, as he's now got a gun trained on her. "Oh, that wasn't very nice of you," she retorts, mildly annoyed with herself for losing focus, even for the briefest second. "Come on, then, let's see what else you've got. A gun against an unarmed woman isn't very fair odds, but beggars can't be choosers."

This was always a possibility, that she might find herself in over her head, but she has to hold them off long enough to give Flynn the time he needs. She can at least lead Jerry's men on a merry dance in the meantime.

"Give up, Jerry. We won't let you do it."

Flynn in the meantime has problems on his own. Jerry looks up at him, eyes glowing in a deep, devilish red and the Librarian can tell that his body is already taut with unnatural power, radiating off him like an evil aura. Flynn swallows, feeling weak and tiny all of a sudden and it brings back memories of Wilde and the Staff, overly powerful and beating the crap out of him before Flynn managed to make the environment work in his favor.

Somehow he doesn't think the same trick will work a second time.

"You can't stop it," Jerry snarls at him. "I'm taking what's rightfully mine. Love, family! Everything your father robbed me off!"

"I will never let you have the power of the--" Flynn stops suddenly, his face turning into a bizarre combination of surprise and stupor. "Wait. Wait, just, are you talking-- is this about Mom? You're not seriously wielding the Book of Solomon because of Mom?"

"She was the love of my life. The most beautiful of them all. Her hair like an open cornfield in the evening sun. Her lips full and red like summer apples. Her hips--"

"Oh my God! Oh my God, I'm not listening!" Horrified, Flynn puts his hands to his ears. "Will you stop, that's my mother you're talking about!"

Jerry takes the opening, backhanding Flynn across the face and, yep. That's a magically powered punch if Flynn has ever felt one (he had felt many). He crashes to the ground, groaning and holding his face, the room swimming in and out of vision. From somewhere above Jerry's voice reaches him. "Not when I'm finished she won't be."

Something in those words sets Flynn's nerves on fire and he can feel himself pushing himself to his feet even before the daze has worn off. Jerry had already taken one parent – like hell was Flynn going to let him take another one. With a yell he tackles into him, causing Jerry to drop the book and bringing them both down to the ground wrestling. Jerry is stronger, managing to come out on top with his hands closing around Flynn's throat; but Flynn is angrier, reaching out until his fingers brush a stone to grab and smash against Jerry's skull. With a grunt the man rolls to the side and drops, temporarily knocked out.

Flynn coughs, scrambling to his knees. He really hates being choked and it happens way too often.

The book is just ahead where Jerry dropped it and Flynn picks it up, slowly getting to his feet. "Got the book!" he yells to let Nicole know he's alright. He shouldn't waste any more time, he needs to get down there right now and help her. But then his eyes fall on the writing and he feels drowsy all of a sudden, his mind droning with unnatural sounds when he can't help but start reading. The Book. Yes, he has the Book.

The situation down where Nicole is isn't exactly going without a hitch. The men she's fighting are skilled, and their weapons are deadly. It's only thanks to her quick reflexes that she's sporting just a graze on her forehead from a narrowly-missed bullet. The blood from the cut keeps dripping into her eyes, which isn't doing her any additional favors.

Suddenly, though, she notices a change in the men who are still encircling her, weapons drawn and threatening. Something has drawn their attention, and to Nicole's dismay, they appear to forget all about her, climbing up the stairs to the platform above, where Flynn and Jerry are.

"Oh no you don't!" They can't get up there. She can't allow them to get too close to Flynn, because there's no telling what they might do. But as she crests the stairs and comes to the top of the platform, her thoughts seem to fly away from her. "Flynn, what are you doing?" Her words appear to fall on deaf ears, as Flynn's gaze is riveted on the Book.

Of course, this was always a possibility, but it's not something Nicole's prepared to see or to deal with. But she doesn't have time to react, as one of the men sneaks up behind her and grabs her by the arms, restraining her. He can't restrain her voice, though, and she shouts at Flynn in hopes of somehow reaching him: "You can read the Book later! Now's not the time, Flynn!"

The words seem to seep right into Flynn and he draws in an involuntary breath at the power that comes with it. It goes straight to his head, spreading all the way down into his fingertips and for the first time he understands the intoxication that comes with it. There's no fear, no doubt – what is there to doubt, what is there to be afraid of when he's like this?

Like this, he could be the greatest Librarian of them all. He could bring all the artifacts home, he could undo the damage Jerry had caused to him and his family, he could keep Nicole safe. Nothing could ever threaten her or Judson or Charlene or the Library or himself ever again. He could save the world! No more stumbling around in hopes they somehow make it to the next day. No more sleepless nights at the responsibility, keeping him up, the fear of not being good enough. Not with this.

He smiles, pleased, unaware of the red glow that seeps into his eyes as the word tumble from his lips without a second thought.

Now's not the time, Flynn!

Something tugs at his heart and his voice trails off. It's confusing; why would he stop? He shouldn't stop, he needs to finish this. He needs to be better, stronger, how else is he supposed to do all this? He isn't good enough, he needs this. Flynn looks up at Nicole, dazed and alive with power, comfortable in the complete absence of fear. It's such a new and unfamiliar feeling. It feels so good. "Don't worry," he tells her, still smiling. "I got this."

"Give us the book!" the goon holding Nicole snarls at him but it comes out a little shaky, clearly unnerved at the glowing red eyes piercing him now. "Give us the book or she dies!"

"I don't think so." Flynn's voice is mild, amused even and he takes a step forward before kicking up a stone. It's a dumb move that his former self would never have managed but with the Book the stone shoots up like a projectile and hits the guy straight in the face, causing him to stagger away from Nicole and drop with a groan.

This is amazing. Flynn can't even begin to imagine what he must be like once he read the entire incantation. He will be a hero – a real hero, someone to look up to, to be proud of. They will be so proud of him. He beams at Nicole. "Let me just finish with that, then we can get out of here."

Nicole watches with horror from her vantage point, unable to do anything to stop him. She might not know everything there is to know about magic, but she can tell that anything involving turning anyone's eyes a glowing red is a bad sign. Whatever the Book is doing to Flynn, she doesn't like it, and it will stop, if she has anything at all to say about it.

But she hesitates momentarily as he addresses her with a voice that's not like him in any way, shape, or form. The Flynn she knows isn't overconfident unless he's acting that way on purpose, and there's something else present there, something she can't quite put her finger on. Is it the way he speaks without hesitation? Or- Is it how he's carrying himself, standing up taller and straighter, looking as though he can take on the entire world singlehandedly?

Nicole frowns, not sure about any of this, but it has to be because of the Book's influence. Her thoughts are interrupted again by the goon holding her, making death threats against her. Honestly, these men don't have a single shred of originality in them anywhere. But the threat doesn't even pan out, because Flynn's just dispatched the man with a well-kicked rock.

... Which isn't like Flynn at all either. "Flynn, stop, you're not acting like yourself!" She has to reach him somehow, so with the goon temporarily knocked out, Nicole scales the stairs, trying to get closer to Flynn, so she can find out why he's doing this and what he hopes to gain from it. "Reading the Book won't get you what you want. You heard Jerry. He just wants to use the Book for himself, to make things better for him. Is that what you want for yourself?"

Flynn is a lot of things, but selfish and short-sighted are not among them, and Nicole hopes that by attempting to remind him of that, he'll come to his senses.

Again, something in his heart seems to call out for him to stop, to listen to Nicole. But this isn't right, Nicole shouldn't be against this, why would she be? Doesn't she see how much better it will be?

"No, I'm doing this for you, I'm doing this for the Library."

He lowers the book, the confusion giving him pause. Being compared to Jerry stings, a lot, and it breaks through the fog in his head for a moment. He frowns, his resolve wavering. It's unwelcome and painful, a reminder of all his insecurities and doubts. No, no, he can't allow those back.

"If I'm better then I can be better for the Library. I can be better for you. I won't be afraid anymore. I won't be a burden."

And then it registers with Nicole what's driving Flynn. All of this is born from his insecurities, from his worries that he's not good enough for this job or for her. It's foolishness, of course, because the Library chose him, and she chose to stay with him. She chose to be more than just his Guardian; she allowed herself to love him when everything in her was telling her to never let her walls down that way ever again.

He's the one who wormed his way into her heart with his awkward brand of charm, his smiles that leave her rather weak at the knees, and a thousand other little things that she just loves about him.

"You're already everything the Library needs and more besides. Can't you see that?" It cuts deeply at her to realize he can't or doesn't. "You don't need to be better!" She realizes she's practically begging now, a thing she's never done in her life except for one other terrible time, but that's how important this is to her, how much she means every word of what she's saying.

"You are not a burden, Flynn!" If she hasn't told him how important, how valuable, and how very much not a burden he is, then this is her fault. She hates to admit it, but if this is really how Flynn feels, then she's failed at one key aspect of being the Guardian: she failed to safeguard and bolster Flynn's mental health.

"Please, you don't need to do this!" Desperation is plain in her voice; if she can't reach him, then no one can. They did not come all this way only for him to be lost to the magic of the Book, but things are not looking good from where Nicole is standing.

Something is wrong. Something is very wrong and Flynn blinks, for the first time realizing the alien sounds in his head as the foreign intrusion that they are. They keep whispering to him, alluring promises of grandeur, of being worthy, of not being afraid.

But he is.

He is so very afraid, always will be, you had to be crazy to do this job and not be. This isn't him. He hasn't suddenly become brave, or heroic, it's just the book making him that way. The whispers in his head become louder, more insisting, as if they can feel his doubts and he tries to block them out, tries to think. His father dying for this book (to keep it safe); Jerry on the ground, snarling as he slowly comes to, rotten by greed and hate and anger; Nicole, looking so unhappy, at him, because of him, because of what he's doing – what is he doing? He's hurting her, somehow, and that's the last thing he wants.

Again his heart goes out to her and it breaks through the fog in his head, makes him feel more like himself again and suddenly he can hear his mother's voice. The things that make life worth living... they can't be thought here. They must be felt... here.

Flynn tries to focus on that. Focus on that what he feels, not the ugly thoughts in his head, of inadequacy of insecurity but the feelings of love. He wants to be better because he loves the Library, and Nicole; Judson, Charlene, this world. It's not about him, it can't be about him. It's about them.

It's always been about them.

"No!" He clutches at his head, squeezing his eyes shut. "Not that! Not like that!" With an angry cry he flings the cursed book from him and over the edge of the plateau, down into the fiery pit below.

A long time ago, when Nicole was still very new to being the Guardian, she had a discussion with Judson about what it meant to fill that role. The words they exchanged that day still remain with her, and they're ringing in her head even now as she watches Flynn with the Book.

The Guardian isn't meant to simply protect the Librarian's life; the Guardian is supposed to protect the Librarian's soul. If she fails to reach Flynn here, then she'll have failed at the task set to her. As she looks on, unfinished sentences chase themselves around Nicole's mind, but none of them feel right or good enough to break through whatever hold the Book has on Flynn.

But as she watches, she thinks she's just spotted the smallest of changes in Flynn's visage. It's small, but it's enough to cause her heart to leap with the hope that maybe he's not as lost to her as she thinks he is. Come on, Flynn, snap out of it...

It startles her when Flynn shouts angrily, grabbing his head as though it hurts. She's about to rush over to him, but it's as though an invisible hand has just grabbed her and is holding her back. Flynn has to work through this himself, she thinks. She's not sure how she knows that, or if it's even correct, but it feels right. And then the next thing she knows, Flynn has just flung the book away from him and into the chasm.

Lurching forward as if her legs are moving of their own accord, Nicole approaches him slowly, warily, as if unsure of whether or not she'll find the real Flynn or the Flynn that was in the book's clutches.

"Flynn?"

The fog lifts almost instantly from his head and it's like a punch to the gut, like ice water to his soul. Flynn gasps, staggering, the immense power and the alien thoughts rushing out of him like a gust of wind, leaving him feeling breathless and weak and human and ashamed.

When he looks up his eyes have lost the unworldly red glow and have returned to their dark deep brown. He looks relieved, smiling at Nicole but at the same time very dismayed at what just happened.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. I-I didn't mean that." He reaches out, slow and unsteady, pulling her into a shaky hug. "Sorry. I'm sorry."

Nicole just stands there, hesitant, because while she can see that Flynn's returning to himself, there's no other way around it: what just happened terrified her. It's her job to protect Flynn, and that includes protection from physical harm and the more supernatural types of harm as well. And allowing him to fall under the spell of some magical book definitely falls into the category of failing at her job.

She lets him pull her into the hug, but her form is rigid and unyielding. "Don't scare me like that, Flynn." Her hands are shaking, which makes her glare angrily at them. It isn't often that she's visibly afraid, but now, she can't help the reaction. "I thought that I was going to lose you." The admission doesn't come easily to her, but she feels it's something he needs to know. She doesn't even know if she's right to be angry, but losing the Librarian is not something she's prepared to face a second time.

There's a pause, in which Nicole lets out a long breath, and when she looks back at Flynn, the hard edges and rage have mostly vanished from her face. In their place is worry and concern, and she asks, "Are you all right?"

Flynn's smile falters when he sees just how deeply his actions have affected Nicole and he can feel the guilt wrecking him with the force of a sledgehammer. What was he thinking? The Librarian is supposed to be incorruptible and he doesn't use the artifacts for his own gain. Of course that didn't always happen, Wilde being the best example but Flynn was not like Wilde – or was he? The thought sends an icy shiver down his spine. And now he had let down the woman he loves – the last thing he wanted to do.

His eyes turn soft under her concerned glance and he doesn't feel deserving of it. All the cockiness and bravado that had accompanied and led them all the way into these Mines, has left him as if it had dissipated with the rest of the spell. He should have been more careful. More responsible.

"I'm sorry I scared you. I-I really don't know what happened, it's like I couldn't think, I didn't know it could do that." He can feel himself stumbling on words as he struggles to explain because he just wants to fix this, wants to make this not have happened. "I screwed up, Nicole. I'm sorry."

The situation is completely different from anything she faced with Wilde, and yet for some odd reason, she's experiencing flashbacks of the day of what she thought was his death. Nothing so drastic happened here, but still, this is something she's going to file away permanently as a terrifying experience.

"You did a lot of things just now, Flynn, but you did not screw up. You had a misstep, yes. But you did what any human being would do. The temptation of power is strong, and-" She falters there, because in her mind, the Librarian ought to be able to withstand such temptations, and yet Flynn fell prey to it. And that renders her torn, because on the one hand, she's angry with him for succumbing, but on the other, isn't that her fault? Isn't the only person she should be angry with herself? The Guardian safeguards the Librarian's soul, and judging from the events that transpired here, she hasn't done that.

"It's my fault too. I should have stepped in sooner. You're the one who managed to throw it off without anyone's help. And you destroyed the Book, too." And that reinforces in Nicole's mind that Flynn is not lacking in the strength of will department. It's slight, but she feels some of the tension leaving, and she manages to relax just a tiny bit.

"Don't do that again, though, all right? The next time we encounter a powerful magical artifact, don't try to use it. And that goes for both of us." She can't quite keep the concern out of her voice, because the fact remains that she was scared, and still is, even though the danger appears to be over.

"But I did have help. I had you."

Flynn's expression softens and he steps forward again, taking her hands into his. "I... I heard your voice and I... it help me fight off the spell." Or influence or possible horrible side of him that he doesn't want. He drops his eyes and the words come spilling out, too fast and jumbled as he's trying to work through the aftershock of what just happened.

"I remembered you and I remembered that this wasn't how I wanted to be and that it was just a cop out because I was... scared." The admission is difficult but Nicole deserves it after what he just pulled. "The Book showed me how scared I was but then I remembered that..."

He looks up again, the grip on her hand tightening. "... that I'm not that scared when I'm with you."

Sometimes, Nicole just wishes things like thoughts and feelings weren't so absolutely confusing and confounding. Flynn makes her feel things she hasn't let herself feel in a very long time, and when it comes to trying to express herself, she realizes she's very, very bad at it.

"Well, you know you'll always have me, as far as I'm concerned." If anything tries to separate them, well, she knows for damned sure she'll put up a fight. "And you have a lot of reasons to be scared. It's a big world out there, and even bigger what with all the magic and evil just roaming around." And she honestly wouldn't blame him for ever feeling as though he wants to run away and hide from it all.

"It takes a very brave man to stay even when feeling scared. You are brave, Flynn, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise." She looks him straight in the eyes, hoping he can see how sincere she is about this. "The Book was just using you and playing off the things that worry you. It's not your fault." She realizes that, now that her anger and heightened emotions have faded somewhat.

"Thanks." It does make him feel better because he knows Nicole would not lie to him; especially not about something as big as this. "I appreciate that."

It's a throwback to when he tried to make her feel better on their first mission and he knows she'll recognize it as such; after all she is the type to notice everything.

In a sudden impulse he brings her hand up to her face, cupping her cheek.

"I won't forget it again." He makes it a point to keep his voice earnest and steady, trying to mirror the sincerity in her eyes. "I promise."

That brings her up short, and takes her back in time to their first adventure together. Of course she remembers that conversation and her response. It stirred up something inside her that Flynn would attempt to understand her the way he did. It meant a lot to her, what he said back then, and she recognizes that her words mean a lot to him as well.

"It's what I'm here for." It's what both of them are there for; both of them say what needs to be said, not to just silence or dismiss, but because they both understand each other so well and know exactly what to say almost instinctively.

"I will hold you to that." But the hard look in her eyes has all but gone, replaced by the sheer amount of love that she holds for him. "Now, what do you say to getting out of here?"

The look in her eyes brings a warm fuzzy feeling to the pit of his stomach and Flynn exhales with a smile. He brings their faces together for a kiss, his thumb tracing over her cheek. In this moment, everything feels silly – being afraid, what is there to be afraid of? He has his Guardian to help him face the challenges ahead. As long as she's with him there's nothing he can't do.

"I say that is the best idea we had all day." Eventually he pulls back (a bit reluctantly) and takes a look around at the men on the ground; and then Jerry. A shadow crosses Flynn's face when he remembers the admission of what his 'uncle' had done to him. Taken from him.

"What are we..." When the pain and anger slips into his inflection again Flynn clears his throat, trying to will it away. "What are we gonna do about them?"

[PSL] The Return to King Solomon's Mines Ultimate Fix It (for slapthelibrarian)

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