Chapter twenty one

The night before

Sam chewed the end of his pencil. The woody taste reminded him of exams. He could think of this as an exam. The only difference was that if he didn't ace it, they would die. Still, he couldn't find anything wrong with the translation or interpretation of the document. Jessie had cleaned it all up.

"Sam?" JT stood in the doorway of the tent, looking apprehensive. "Could you come out a bit?"

"What's up?" Sam stepped out and froze. JT had his rucksack on his back and it appeared fully packed.

JT looked away from Sam. "We're leaving."

"We meaning?" Actually, what he wanted to ask was what? Why? And what the hell?

"Well, everyone except the five of you should be leaving. That's what we've been ordered. But the girls don't want to leave. I've just had a harsh conversation with Kay, so they're not going anywhere. Billy insisted on staying, too. Anyway, headquarters confirmed you as leader and I'm apparently the leader of the backup team. So I'm supposed to take the backup and move out."

Sam shook his head, the bureaucracy already driving him crazy. "Wait, so if you're the leader of the backup team and I'm apparently the leader of the team-team, shouldn't you be doing what I say while you're part of the team-team?"

"Correct."

"Then who the heck is giving you orders except me?"

"Headquarters. They apparently changed their minds about a lot of things," JT mumbled.

Sam pondered for a minute, wondering what to ask first. "You're not going anywhere. I'm ordering you to stay here thus canceling the other orders."

"You can't cancel your own superiors. But I would stay Sam, trust me, I would, and I would take full responsibility for it too—"

This was going nowhere fast. Sam raised his hand to stop JT. "How did the agency give you orders? We have no means of communication out here."

"Steve hacked into the satellite to communicate with HQ and give them our status. It unfortunately resulted in them calling us back."

"So that's what you and Steve were arguing about," Sam said, finally illuminated as he remembered them sitting on the temple steps, fighting over Steve's laptop.

"Yeah, Steve isn't too happy about leaving. And, as I was saying, I would ignore the order, but we're not going on vacation. Apparently, they're trying to assemble a strike force against Snitch Gravel. Get him out of your hair."

"I don't know how to tell you this, but by the time you guys reach civilization, we'll be halfway out as well. We're entering the temple tomorrow and that's that." Sam crossed his arms over his chest. He hadn't met anyone from the agency except for Herrison, but he wasn't sure he liked the rest of them much. He didn't know if he liked Herrison much either.

"Yeah, I thought of that, too. But, in case you're being followed, we'd be of great help."

"Yeah, good point." Sam watched JT as he stared back expectantly. Having him and Steve gone wasn't so bad. It could have been much worse. But what did he say to a man he still wasn't sure he liked when he was about to leave? Finally, he reached out his hand. "Good luck."

JT, pushed Sam's hand away and hugged him. "You're going to need a lot more luck than us. But you'll manage it. You're one of the most competent people I've ever worked with." He let go and left before Sam could say another word. And Sam was glad. That had been very awkward.

A weird, paranoid feeling had caught hold of him, as if he'd forgotten something very important, something that would lead to their doom. But as much as he thought about it, he couldn't figure it out. Sam entered his tent and grabbed the document, but couldn't face reading it again. Maybe tomorrow morning.

He got the sudden feeling he was being watched. Christine was indeed standing in the threshold, scowling. His heart sank into his stomach. He'd once again missed the chance of sending her to safety. Why did he have to be so weak when it came to her?

"Have any time for me?" Her voice was scathing.

"Look, Christine." He stood. "We'll be done soon. Then I'll have all the time in the world for you."

"Kyle and Kay find time for each other. And Jerry and Tina spend all their time together. I'm starting to think that you're avoiding me on purpose—"

Sam walked over and put his hand over her mouth. "Don't say that." He leaned his forehead against hers. "It's not much fun, having to do all this. But if I would spend my time with you..." He took his hand off her mouth. "That would be great. It would make me really happy." Christine's eyes seemed to shine, even if there was barely any light in the tent. "And that happiness would make me feel really guilty." Sam let her go and turned away.

"Why?"

Sam felt relieved that she didn't sound upset anymore. "Because it would feel like slacking off."

Christine raised her eyebrows. "Being happy feels like slacking off?"

"Right now it does, because I'm supposed to get us home safely and I already feel as if I'm wasting too much time with—" He stopped once Christine put her hand on his lips.

"Okay, I get it. You have this weird guilt complex. We'll have to figure a way to fix it. But until then, you're right. We have a few more days to go and then we can start being a normal couple." She rose on the tips of her toes and kissed him on the mouth.

Blood rushed through Sam's veins like water out of a broken dam. The guilt bubble exploded leaving room to solace. Everything seemed easier, more beautiful. Before he could react properly, Christine pulled back.

"Now do what you have to do. But you owe me a kiss." She winked and left his tent.

Sam smiled. Christine was some piece of work. If the guilt wouldn't have returned with a vengeance, he would've damned the whole thing and rushed after her. But she was right. He had a job to do. Then they could be normal.

*

Kyle sat outside his tent, tapping his knee in the rhythm of the melody that wouldn't get out of his head already, spinning the heart-shaped rock necklace around one finger. Ever since he'd seen Jessie and Jimmy entering camp, the blasted thing started playing inside his head, lyrics and everything. It wasn't the first time a song hit him out of the blue, but it had never been so damn insistent. He should just write it down and get it over with. Which would've been much easier if he still had Jessie's guitar.

He'd asked her to let him have it for the night, but Jessie claimed she needed it, stuck her tongue out at him and left him to the madness inside his head. It was soon, it was weird and totally insane, but Kyle loved Jessie to bits already. She was like the little sister he never had. He had no idea why this connection had formed between them after less than a week of knowing each other... then again, maybe it was one-sided and he was crazy.

"Hey, why are you outside?" Tom stopped next to him.

"Oh, Jimmy's out and Jerry's not asleep yet. Not a big fan of awkward silence." Kyle stuffed the necklace in his pocket and squinted at Tom. There was something different about him and he had the vague idea he knew the answer. "What's up?"

"Okay, what are the chances of Jimmy breaking up with Alice and hooking up with Jessie?" Tom sat cross-legged in front of Kyle.

"I'd say one hundred percent. Why?"

"Huh, you're that optimistic."

"Have you seen the two of them together? There's enough chemistry there to wipe out the Middle East. But why are you so interested in that all of a sudden?"

Tom scratched the back of his head. "I just like Jessie a lot. I hope Jimmy will give her a chance."

"Jimmy never told me what happened to him. If you know, you're the only one who can predict his chances of giving anyone a chance."

Tom nodded absently and for a moment Kyle was tempted to ask what had happened, but stopped himself. It was Jimmy's story to tell when he wanted and to who he wanted. Tom might not even know.

"How about you?" Kyle asked.

"Yeah, yeah." Tom's attention returned to him. "You were right all along. Ten points to you."

"I wanna hear you say it."

"I haven't said it to her. What makes you think I'll say it to you first?"

"Then go say it to her and come back and say it to me. I don't believe it until I hear it out of your mouth."

Tom laughed shortly. "No. I have to think of the perfect way to do it."

"Oh, how's this?" Kyle put his finger to his chin in a mock thinking pose. "Go to her and fu—freakin' tell her!"

Tom frowned. "You can swear in front of me."

Kyle let out a defeated sigh. "Yeah, I know. I'm just trying not to anymore."

"Does Jerry have anything to do with it?"

Kyle half-dropped his eyelids. "What do you think?"

"He'll come around." Tom jumped to his feet and stretched. "Good talk." He waved and walked away.

Kyle shook his head, grateful that at least the blasted song was out of his head. And he hoped Tom wouldn't wait freaking forever and torment Angie before telling her how he really felt. Though admitting it to himself was a huge step forward, it meant nothing if Angie didn't know.

"Hey," Kay came toward him and indicated that he should stay seated when he made to get up. "Mind if I join you?" She dropped next to him.

"Um, no..." He looked at her frowning because her tone was a little weird. "You okay?"

"Yes, of course." She leaned her head against his shoulder. "I guess I'm just a little nervous about tomorrow."

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Everything will be fine, you'll see."

"Yes, I know. We're going to find the ruby and head home." She fell silent, looking into the distance. Her eyes glittered in the little light coming from the distant campfire. What she'd left unspoken hung in the air between them.

"Then what?" Kyle asked. He knew the answer to that question. There were only three possible alternatives, and all of them ended with them being together, but he had no idea what Kay was thinking, how much she was willing to sacrifice. For him, it was easy. He had nothing without her anyway.

She looked up at him, a pleading look in her eyes, as though begging him to assure her they weren't going to the lives they had before. She looked tired, warn out and thinner than before. They all were. He leaned his forehead against hers. Kay sniffed and nuzzled his cheek.

"We'll be fine, sweetheart. Whether I follow you, you follow me or we go somewhere completely new together, we're not breaking up again."

"I hope so." She sat quietly for a few moments. "Ever since I got here, I wondered if this is what Max was training you for."

Kyle looked down at her, shocked that it had never crossed his mind. His uncle had him running obstacle courses and doing target practice since he was a kid. He hadn't thought much of it, but Kay was right. It was like Max had been actually preparing him for this.

"And also if Snitch Gravel was actually behind the car crash we got into," she continued. "That would explain why Max freaked out like that."

"That would also explain why he didn't want me around anymore, the coward. I had a target on my back." He still felt like punching Max for lying and forcing him to move to Chicago. Away form his life, from his friends. From Kay.

"I think it was more the responsibility. If something happened to you during his watch. He was very worried about that."

"You're wise beyond your years."

She wrapped her arms around his neck, the trace of a smile on her face, and pulled him into a kiss. He vaguely recalled that it was a bad idea, that they were out in the open, way too close to Jerry, but it didn't last long. He kissed her back greedily, longing to feel her closer.

Kay climbed into his lap and broke the kiss. "I want to hear you say it again," she whispered.

Her lily sent was pushing all coherent thought out of his head. "We'll be fine." He leaned forward to kiss her again, but she pulled back.

"Now that other thing."

Oh, yes, that other thing. He shook away the haze, reached into his back pocket and pulled out the heart-shaped rock pendant. "Not exactly as classy as you deserve, but we did say we'd start collecting colorful rocks."

Kay's blue eyes widened as she took in the necklace. "It's beautiful. You're making me feel sorry I used all the other rocks for target practice."

Kyle held in a laugh. "How'd that work for you?"

"Not very well. Bullets don't exactly pass through rocks." She twisted in his lap and raised her hair so that he could put it on.

She twisted back to face him, tightening her knees against his thighs, waiting. Because that was not what she demanded, just an added bonus.

"I know you show it all the time." She bit her lip. "But I want to hear you say it."

He put his hands on her back and pulled her closer, until they were a breath apart. "I love you."

She wrapped herself tight around him and kissed him again. The rock pendant pressed against his heart, assuring him that she was there, real, and she loved him. They would be fine.

Author's note:

The song above is the song playing inside Kyle's head. I always imagined him having Chris Daughtry's voice :P

This chapter is dedicated to clchic0729 for being awesome and supportive of this story :)