A/N
Just a quick reminder that in this story it's a five year time difference, not a three year.
~five years later~
[Name]'s POV
The windshield wipers on the boat swipe the rain off quickly as Nate pilots it through the rough ocean waves, "This is really not good," Nate murmurs, and I look at Sam and Harry who hold the railing of the boat, before turning my attention back to Nate.
"No shit!" I exclaim as the rough waves toss the boat around.
"Hold on!" Nate shouts and goes over a wave.
The boat rocks back and forth, tossing me over to the side Harry and Sam are on. "I gotcha," Sam says and grabs my arm, holding me against his chest while his other arm holds the side of the boat.
"Hey, Nate! They're gaining on us!" Harry shouts, and we look behind us at the Shoreline boats following us closely.
"Yeah, yeah, I know, I know," Nate mutters, and I frown.
"Well then do something about it!" I shout, and we hit another large wave. The boat rocks back and forth again, and I grip onto the railing for dear life.
"I'm going as fast as I can," Nate replies, and I look at Harry and Sam.
"Well, fuck," Sam swears, and we pull out our pistols.
Our boat starts to accelerate, and Sam looks at his brother, "Keep heading towards the island. We'll try to hold them off."
One of the Shoreline boats pulls up beside ours and some mercenaries come out onto the deck of their ship. "Here they come," Harry mutters, and him, Sam, and I start shooting.
"They're boats are small, you can just ram into them!" I shout, and Nate starts hitting some of the boats.
"We're not doing much damage!" Sam calls out to his brother as we miss quite a bit of our shots.
"Just keep them at bay!" Nate responds, and we continue to shoot at the boats while Nate pilots our boat forward, sometimes crushing a Shoreline boat.
"Big boat! Big boat!" Sam shouts, and it hits the side of ours.
Some of the ocean water is sprayed onto the wooden floor we're on and I slide across the floor, gripping onto the railing on the other side. Explosives start raining down from the sky and Harry laughs dryly while running a hand through his wet hair, "They're dropping bloody mines! What the fuck is with these bastards?!"
"A lot of things," I mutter while moving a strand of hair out of my face.
"Just keep heading towards the island, don't let 'em get in front of you," Sam tells his brother, and I shoot one of the mercenaries on one of the boats.
Explosives keep raining down when one of them hits right in front of our boat. Our boat is tossed up, and Nate and I are tossed into the rough water below. We swim up to the surface, and Sam brings the boat over to us while shouting out our names.
Him and Harry run over to the railing and reach over it to help Nate and I up. Nate pulls himself onto the boat first, and Harry and Sam each grab one of my arms and pull me out of the water.
Nate rushes over to the engine of the boat and his eyes widen, "Shit, the engine's out."
Harry's head snaps to the side and he narrows his eyes, "What?!"
Sam rushes over to the engine and examines it, before looking back at us, "I can fix it, just- just cover me."
Nate, Harry, and I nod before taking cover by the railing of the boat as Shoreline boats show up. I shoot a mercenary with a grenade launcher and he misfires, causing the rocket to hit their own boat. "Holy shit!" Nate shouts as their boat bursts into flames.
"Ha ha! Karma's a bitch!" Sam grins, and more Shoreline boats pull up next to ours. We continue to shoot the mercenaries while Sam works on the engine, when he suddenly shouts, "I got it! I got it!"
Nate runs over to the wheel on the boat and guns the engine. "Head straight to the bloody island, mate," Harry tells him, and Sam runs over and joins my side.
I glance around at the three guys, biting my bottom lip. Their shirts stick to their chests due to the rain, and pieces of their hair blow in the strong winds. 'Snap out of it [Name]. Now's not the time to be ogling over them' I shake my mind of my thoughts.
The boat suddenly makes a sharp turn, and I grip the railing so I don't fall. "I can barely see out here," Nate says while avoiding some rocks.
Shoreline boats continue to follow us, and Harry, Sam, and I continue to try and keep them off of us. "Nathan, hurry!" Samuel shouts, and Nate keeps swerving around the rocks.
"I should never have agreed to look for this treasure again," I mumble, when a flaming boat hits ours from the right. Our boat overturns and I scream, before plummeting into the ocean water, everything around me going black.
~26 years ago~
"[Name]... what are we going to do with you? Can't you be a normal ten year old girl and play with dolls?" the nun asks me.
"Dolls are boring." I scowl at her.
"Well now you're stuck here with me for the rest of the week."
I huff and snub her, glancing out the window towards the St. Francis Boys' Home, 'I'll just sneak out and meet up with Nate anyway'.
"Ignoring me now, I see," the nun says, and I continue to stay quiet, "[Name], you cant be sneaking out of here."
"You're not my mom. I don't take orders from you," I tell her while standing up. I go to walk past her when she grabs my arm.
"While you stay in this home, you will listen to me."
I yank my arm out of her hold and send her a glare, "I never wanted to come here in the first place. And don't ever lay a hand on me again."
I brush past her and run to my secret hiding spot. I pull out all my journals my mother gave me from when she used to go on her own journeys, a sad smile coming to my face. I flip the journals open and study the notes she made about Cleopatra and her treasures which may be in a hidden temple somewhere in Egypt.
A tap comes from the window above me, and I close the book and climb on top of the bookshelf. "Sam," my eyes lighten up and I open the window.
"Hey, [Name]," he smiles, and I climb out of the window and hug him.
"What are you doing here?" I ask, and he ruffles my hair.
"Can't I come and see my favorite girl?"
"You can, but have you gone and seen your brother yet?"
"Not yet. I was just about to head over there, but I thought I'd see you first," Sam smiles sheepishly and I giggle. He notices the journal in my hand and raises an eyebrow, "So, what were you reading?"
I hand him the book and he flips through it with interest, making me smile sadly, "They were my mother's journals. She was into exploring and history."
"Our mother was also like that. Though I'm sure my little brother already told you that," Sam chuckles and hands me the journal back, "hey, do you want to see something?"
I look up at him and nod, and he leads me to the edge of the rooftop and points down at a motorcycle. "I know you always thought they were cool, and I wanted you to be the first person to check out my new ride."
"That's awesome, Sam! Thank you for showing me," I say while hugging him.
"Anything for you, [Name]." Sam hugs me back, before looking over his shoulder at the Boys' home where Nate is, "Now I need to go see my little brother and show him his present."
"I'm sure whatever it is- he'll love it," I say and Sam starts to walk off, but stops suddenly.
"I almost forgot, I have a gift for you as well," he tells me and pulls out a necklace with a pendant of a bird taking flight.
"Sam, you shouldn't have," I sigh and he places the leather cord of the necklace over my head.
"I wanted to. Now, before you get in trouble, you should go inside," he says and I touch the pendant, before smiling and climbing back through the window. I look outside and Sam waves, "Bye, [Name]."
He turns around and runs across the rooftop, making me smile sadly, "Goodbye, Sam."
~ten years later~
"Rafe." I grin while crouching down next to the brunet multi-millionaire.
"[Name]," he hums and looks at me, "you're going to get in trouble if the guards find you here."
"I thought you'd know me better."
"I didn't say it surprised me. I know you don't care if they catch you," he mutters while smoothing his brown hair back.
The chatter from the prisoners becomes louder, and I look over to see Nate and Gustavo being pulled apart by two guards. "Hey! What are you doing out here!" a guard walks over and rips me away from Rafe's side.
My friend's eyes darken and he grits his teeth as the guard shoves my face down into the mud. I tilt my head to the side, letting out a small laugh, "What are you going to do about it?"
The guard kicks me in my side repeatedly, making me cough and groan. Rafe looks like he's about to tear the guy to shreds, but he knows that I need to get caught so I can help Nate find a clue to Avery's treasure.
"You're coming with me, puta," the guard states and forcefully pulls me onto my feet.
"Lay up on her," Rafe snaps, having enough of how the guard is treating me.
"Want to try that again?" the guard threatens Rafe.
My friend goes to snap at him again when I send him a reassuring look, "I'll be okay, Rafe. Don't worry about me."
"All right, sorry. I'll back off." Rafe raises his hands in mock surrender, before walking away, but not without an eye roll first.
'Sorry my ass' I playfully roll my eyes, when the guard pulls me onto my feet and shoves me forward. He makes me follow behind the guard who leads Nate, my long time friend looking over his shoulder at me. I smirk faintly and he smirks back.
"Face forward," one of the guards, Vargas, hits the back of Nate's head with a baton.
"In here," the other guard opens two heavy doors across from each other and shoves one of us inside each room.
"How long are we supposed to be in here?" Nate shouts, and I look around the small, stone room.
"And where's the toilet?" I ask and Vargas, the guard Rafe is paying off, smirks.
"You're looking at it. Have fun," he tells us, and the doors shut behind us, the lock clicking.
"Solitary confinement- just fucking great," I mutter while sliding down the wall and pulling my knees to my chest. Time slowly ticks by, and I lay down on the cold, hard, stone floors and drift off to sleep.
The sound of a key turning the lock wakes me up, and the door opens, the bright light from the hallway shining down on me. "Get up," Vargas orders me, and I look past him to see Nate already out of his cell.
"Fuck off," I retort when he grips my arm and pulls me up.
"You're a feisty one. I see why those three gringos like you," Vargas smirks, referring to Nate, Sam, and Rafe.
A pair of handcuffs are latched onto my wrist and I'm shoved outside, right into Nate's chest whose face is red from what Vargas said. "This way," Vargas says and shoves us forward.
"Okay, we get it, no need to manhandle us," I murmur, and the crooked guard walks past us and leads us down a hall and up some stairs.
A different guard opens a gate at the top and we walk through it and up another set of stairs. "Welcome to Panamá," Vargas states, and we walk outside where many prisoners cheer for me while others sneer at Nate.
"Seems you have some fans- well, one of you that is," Vargas says, and I look out into the courtyard at the guy who used to strike fear in everyone until I kicked his ass.
"My adoring fans," I grin and wave at them.
We walk along a shaded path and up some stairs over to an archway. We go under it and the guard by the gate opens it for us. Nate and I go to walk through when Vargas shoves us inside, making me scowl.
We make our way down the corridor to find two guards beating a prisoner with a baton. Vargas shows that we're with him so the two guards don't try to attack Nate and I, and we're led down a path to the left and over to a wooden door. "Where are you taking us anyway?" Nate asks Vargas.
"You'll see," the corrupt guard responds, and unlocks the wooden door.
Vargas opens it for us and we walk down the stairs into a sketchy sewer. "Yeah, this is rather questionable," Nate says while looking around.
"Just go left," Vargas tells us and we make our way through the sewer to a door that's partially open, "Through there." Vargas escorts us outside and sighs, "Here we are."
Nate and I look at the crumbling tower ahead of us, and I glance over to Vargas, "Are you going to take these cuffs off or what?"
Vargas chuckles and moves in front of us, "I want in."
I cock an eyebrow at his statement, "In?"
"Whatever you two hope to find up there... I want in."
"Now c'mon, Vargas, the deal was just to get us in and out of here, that's it," Nate says, and Vargas narrows his eyes.
"Just? I'm sticking my neck out for you gringos..."
"And Rafe is paying you a lot of money for your trouble," I snap and Vargas starts pacing.
"Sí. But not nearly enough," he chuckles, and pulls out a folded golden-yellow folder.
"You were told not to open that," Nate says lowly, and Vargas unfolds the folder.
"Yes. I was also told not to take bribes... not to bring anyone here... and not to beat on my inmates. But here we are..."
"All right, but just be careful with that, it's three hundred years old," Nate mutters as Vargas slides an old piece of paper out of the folder.
The guard pulls out some reading glasses and puts them on, before clearing his throat, "'I was a member of Captain Henry Avery's crew'... You two know who that is?"
"Noooo, we're just here to look around. Do tell us who he is though," I respond sarcastically, making Nate sigh.
"He was a pirate," my friend states.
"The pirate who pulled off the biggest heist in history... and got away with it. I looked him up. Over four hundred million dollars worth of gold and jewels. All from one single ship. Uh... the 'Gunsway.'"
I gasp and cross my arms across my chest "Wait, really?! I would've never guessed."
"Just get to the point," Nate sighs and sends me an amused look at my prior statement.
"Uh, huh... 'I occupy the highest cell in the Spaniards' prison...'," Vargas reads and points at the tower of the old prison, before pointing at the letter, "Here it is. 'I hope someday you will find your way into this infernal place, bear my cross, and discover the riches of paradise.'."
Vargas takes off his glasses, and looks at Nate and I for our response. I raise and eyebrow and sigh, "What? Just what the hell do you want?"
"The riches of paradise."
Nate looks like he wants to slam his head on a wall, and I chuckle as he says, "Oh, chr- it's a metaphor."
"No, no, no, no, no, no. You and your friends did not pay to get into this 'infernal place' in search of a metaphor. I want in."
"Okay, just listen up. If you let us go up there and check out the prison cell, we'll tell you if there's still anything there after three hundred years and then you can take it all up with Rafe," I tell the corrupt guard.
Vargas frowns, before giving in and taking the handcuffs off mine and Nate's wrists. "Letter," Nate holds out his hand and the guard hesitantly hands in over.
"How are you gonna get up there, anyways?" Vargas asks and Nate and I smirk.
"Climb," we both state and I look over my shoulder.
"Unless of corse you want to do it, since you 'want in,' and all," I say while using my fingers as quotes around two of the words.
"Just don't break your damn necks," Vargas sends us a fake smile.
"Yeah... well, that's the plan," Nate murmurs before looking at the guard, "Hey did you bring what we asked?"
"Yeah. Hid it just over there, under the work table, by the crates," Vargas states and Nate and I nod before jogging down the stone stairs.
We slide down a gravelly slope and push up, jumping and grabbing the ledge of the ground above us. We pull ourselves up onto the stone ground and walk over to another rock wall with ledges on it to climb.
"There's no way Rafe is going to allow Vargas in," I say and Nate climbs up first.
"What would he do? Vargas will turn us in," Nate says and I smirk.
"He's Rafe. Either we'll take care of Vargas or he'll pay someone to."
"So about what Vargas said earlier..."
"I already knew. You guys aren't very good about covering it up. Don't think I've never realized you guys staring at my ass," I smirk, and he becomes flustered, making me chuckle, "Don't be embarrassed. I'm flattered that the three men I call my friends who just so happen to also be extremely attracted, like me."
I move a wooden crate over to a wall of a small cliff. Nate and I grab our grappling hooks and attach it to our sides before climbing onto the crate and pulling ourselves onto the grassy landing above.
"I'll go first," I say, and toss part of my grappling hook towards a wooden beam coming off the side of a cliff. The hook wraps around the beam and I jump off the cliff and swing over to the other side.
I jump off the rope, grabbing it and taking it with me, when I land on the ground. I reattach the rope to my side and wait for Nate who swings across and joins me a few seconds later. "You seem to be enjoying your freedom," Nate smirks and I grin.
"We got ourselves thrown into prison just so we can do this. I'm pretty sure I have a right to be enjoying my freedom."
We jog up a set of stairs and I grapple around a wall and jump off, grabbing the edge of a wooden beam on a different wall. I climb over it and slide to my right, before climbing up the ridges on the cliffside. I jog across the grass and slide down a gravelly slope, pulling out my grappling hook and tossing it ahead to the wooden post on the cliff.
I slide off the slope and swing over to the wall of what used to be a lookout tower. I jump off and grab some of the exposed stone on the wall. My grappling hook returns to me, and I climb up and around the tower.
"Wait till Sam hears what we're doing!" I grin down at Nate as we climb up into the tower.
"He'll be jealous," Nate chuckles while staying a bit behind me.
I walk onto the wooden platform, turning around and looking at some ridges in the wall that can be climbed. I jump off the platform and grab the ridge on my left, scaling up the tower to the roof. I run across the old roof and onto a wooden beam, jumping off and grabbing the edge of the prison wall.
"We just have to get to the highest cell," Nate calls out, and I climb up to a ledge and stand up on it.
I jump and grab the edge above me, sliding around it to the other side of the wall and scaling the wall up and around to an open window. I pull myself in and I fall down a couple meters to the landing of a staircase below.
"Hard to believe there were dozens of pirates holed up in here waiting to be hanged," Nate says when he lands beside me.
"Yeah..." I trail off and jump up to some broken stairs, pulling myself up.
I jog across the platform which is still in decent condition, before tossing my grappling hook onto a boarded up window. I pull on the rope and the wood comes off, exposing the open window for use.
"How many prisoners do you think died here?" I ask Nate while running to a spot on the platform where I can connect my hook to a wooden beam.
"Dunno. Hundreds."
"Maybe," I shrug, before grappling over to the now open window.
I grab the edge of it and climb through to dangle outside the window from the other side. I jump to a wooden beam next to me, and I slide across the corner of the wall to some pieces of stone I can use to climb.
I climb up the tower to the highest window, before dropping inside and landing in the cell we needed to get to. "Burnes's cell," I smirk while looking at the symbols on the wall and the Roman Numerals engraved in the rocks.
"This was his cell? It's more like a suite," Nate joins me and glances around.
I nod and tap the symbols on the wall, "Is there anything about these on the letter?"
Nate pulls out the 300 year old letter and I notice something about the symbols on it. I take it from his hands and fold it so the symbols form the sun and moon overlapping and the zodiac signs for Scorpio and Sagittarius. I look around and match the zodiac symbols with their corresponding Roman Numeral 'seems we need to find the stone with XII on it'.
I look around and spot it on the wall behind me. "Nate. Try this," I say and he walks over and pulls the stone out of the wall.
Our eyes widen, and I stick my arm in the hole and feel around until my hand brushes something wooden. I grab it and pull it out to find a small broken cross with Dismas on it. "Would you look at that," I chuckle while brushing the dust off the it, revealing the gold body of Dismas on the wooden cross.
I flip it around in my hands, and Nate looks over my shoulder and reads the inscription on the back. "Digna Factis Recipimus," he whispers and I frown.
"Is there anything else?" I murmur while Nate reaches into the hole to find it empty.
"Guess that's it. We should head back."
I nod and tuck the cross into the waistband of my jeans, "I agree, but I'm worried about the fact that this cross is hollow and we're missing what we need."
"Let's just hope there was nothing inside," Nate says, and we walk over to the cell door of Burnes's cell.
Nate and I shove open the rusted gate, almost falling to the ground below due to the stairs that lead up to the door being broken. "That would've hurt my head," I chuckle slightly, before sitting down and pushing myself off the ledge.
I land on the floor below and use my grappling hook to lower myself to another gravelly slope. I drop down the rest of the way and begin to slide, jumping off once I'm near the edge, and grabbing the edge of a wooden beam. "Be careful, Nate!" I shout while climb up the metal bars and onto the floor above.
"Whoa!" I hear Nate shout and my eye twitches when I see him almost fall to his death.
"I told you to be careful," I hiss, and he climbs up to the floor I'm on.
"I didn't hear you," he smiles sheepishly, and I sigh, before turning on my heel and walking across the floor.
I make my way across a few beams, before dropping down onto another gravelly slope. I slide down and jump off, grabbing some stone edges on the wall across from me. I climb up to floor above and I kick open the door while listening to Nate laugh as he slides down the gravel. I smile softly at his enjoyment, and I step outside and bask in the sun while waiting for Nate.
"Let's see Rafe do that," he grins while walking outside.
"Believe it or not- he's rather athletic and he could probably do that," I chuckle,and Nate deadpans. I turn around and point to Vargas where we left him, "Anyway, there's Vargas."
"I want a cut," Nate mocks him, and I smirk.
"I want in," I also mock the guard, and we both grin and laugh at each other.
"Come on, let's go." Nate pats my shoulder, and we jump off the wooden platform and land on a beam that starts to break.
We carefully make our way around the beam and onto the ground, sighing once we're safe. "Looks like we're sliding," I say while looking at the steep gravel slope.
"This is gonna hurt," Nate murmurs, and I slide down first, feeling the jagged rocks cutting into my skin. I grit my teeth and toss the hook of my grappling hook to a post on the cliffside. I swing off the slope and through the air to a cliff on the other side, grabbing the edge and pulling myself up, sighing in relief that I made it safely.
I walk over to the wall of a tower and I scale it and climb into the open window. I walk onto a broken platform and jump off, grabbing some stones on the wall of the building across from me.
I climb up onto the rooftop and drop through the hatch at the top- down to the ground below. I glance at Vargas who looks at me, and Nate drops down a few seconds later. "You made it. What'd you find?" Vargas asks, and I sigh and frown, giving him a sad look, making him narrow his eyes, "What?"
"Place was completely empty. If there's a clue hidden up there somewhere, we weren't able to find it," I lie straight through my teeth.
"Are you sure? Were you looking in the right place?" Vargas asks, and Nate runs a hand through his hair.
"You know maybe we just... just missed something in the letter. There could've been another tower that collapsed centuries ago," Nate goes along with my lie, and Vargas frowns.
"Mierda..." he trails off, and I rest my hands on my hips.
"Were there any plans to this place? Like blueprints?" I ask, and Vargas taps his chin.
"Could be, there's a bunch of old files."
"Great. Go look through those and see what you can dig up. Nate and I will have a talk with Sam and Rafe and find out what they think."
"Okay. I'll look through the files. You two turn around," Vargas says and we do.
We're handcuffed again and led to the courtyard where the prisoners get to be outside. "All right. When you're done talking to him... come and find me," Vargas says and uncuffs us.
"You got it," I mutter, and Vargas shoves us forward and yells at us so he doesn't looked crooked.
Nate and I smirk at each other while walking over to where Sam is trying to win cigarettes from some of the other prisoners. When the older Drake sees Nate and I he grabs one cigarette and lights it, before walking over to us.
One of his arms slings loosely around my neck, and he pulls me into his side and smirks while taking a drag from his cigarette, "Don't keep me in suspense. Whaddya find?"
"We were right," I smile up at him and he grins.
"Now we just gotta find Rafe-"
"Ah, Rafe..." Nate trails off in annoyance.
"Don't- don't start. Please?" Sam begs him, and Nate rolls his eyes.
"Like she said, we did this. You, [Name], and I. Now this rich asshole comes in on the tail end-" Nate says, and I elbow him.
"Cut it out, Nate. Rafe has helped us get in here. He's helped us with our leads. He can be an ass, sure, but Rafe has helped us, and I'm not betraying him," I say and Nate sighs, before his eyes suddenly widen.
"Shit! Sam, we have a problem with Vargas."
"What kind of problem?" Rafe asks while joining us, frowning when he notices Sam's arm around me. He faces me and raises an eyebrow, "Did he let you two into the old prison?"
"After he read the letter," I say, and Rafe hums and purses his lips.
"Oh... hm... so how much does he know?"
"Enough that he wants a cut," Nate tells him.
"Ah, shit..." Sam mutters and drops his cigarette, stomping it out and looking at Rafe, "Rafe, if anybody else finds out about this..."
"I'll- I'll work it out with Vargas, don't worry about it. Right now, let's just get on to more pressing matters..." Rafe sighs, and Nate nods.
"All right. Let's just find somewhere a little more private," the younger Drake says, and we nod.
Sam drops his arm around me and we enter the prison. "By the way, you three, Nate already knows, but you guys are terrible at hiding when you like someone," I say, and Rafe and Sam freeze up.
"W-what?" the usually arrogant millionaire stutters and I smirk.
"Don't think I don't know about your crushes on me, or how you stare at my ass whenever you can, or-" I start and Rafe covers my mouth.
"We get it. You know."
"Was it really that obvious?" Sam chuckles sheepishly, and I nod.
Rafe removes his hand from my mouth, and we walk to where the dryers are, looking around to find it vacant. "All right, coast is clear," Sam says, and we meet in the middle of the room.
Rafe claps his hands together and rubs them, "Okay. So, what do we got?"
I pull the cross out of my jeans and Sam's eyes widen, "Ooh, shit."
Rafe smirks and rests his hand on my mid-back. "Atta girl," he says lowly, and I hand him the cross to examine. "Wood with gold and silver inlay. It's well made, too."
"Yeah, but there's a problem," I say while tapping the end of the cross that's broken.
"It's hollow. Why would one of Avery's men go through the trouble of hiding a cheap crucifix?" Rafe laughs slightly while glancing at us.
"It's not a crucifix. Technically, a crucifix is a representation of Jesus. It's not Jesus," Nate says, and Rafe looks at the person on the cross again.
"Well, you're right. No crown of thorns, he's tied to the cross. Well, if it's not Jesus then-"
"Read the inscription," I tell him, and he flips the cross over and looks at the words.
"Digna factis recipimus."
"We receive the due rewards of our deeds," Sam translates, and Rafe looks at him.
"Well, look at you," he smiles faintly almost in amusement.
Sam chuckles and nods his head, "There's some benefit of growing up in a Catholic orphanage," he says and snaps his fingers, "it's Saint Dismas."
"The penitent thief... but what's the connection?" I question while looking at the guys.
"Let's just pretend I skipped all of Sunday school..." Rafe trails off and I giggle slightly, causing his typically stern blue-green eyes to soften.
"Okay, get this. During the crucifixion Jesus is placed between two thieves. One of them mocked Jesus. The other one, this guy... was penitent. He accepted his punishment with grace..." Sam explains his eyes glimmering with realization.
"And Jesus brought him to Paradise," Nate states, and I inhale sharply finally being able to piece things together, catching Sam's attention.
"Penitent thief," Rafe looks at the statue of Dismas.
"Sam, are you thinking-" I start and he laughs.
"There is a Cathedral of Saint Dismas... in Scotland," Sam says with his signature smirk.
"Wait. The last sighting of Avery was in Scotland," Nate says, and I nod.
"It can't be a coincidence," I laugh with a wide grin.
"You know, I had my doubts about you two, even though [Name] is a very good convincer. But..." Rafe trails off and hands the cross to me who tucks it away, "let's find Vargas. Get the hell out of this shit hole."
Nate, Sam, and I nod in agreement and we go to walk out of the room when Gustavo and his crew, along with the guy's whose ass I kicked a few days ago, show up.
"José," I smirk at the guy I beat up.
"[L/Name]," he hisses and cracks his knuckles.
"Let me guess these guys are the ones you just had to pick a fight with," Rafe scoffs and eyes Nate and I.
"Yeah... kinda funny I didn't get solitary for my fight..." I trail off, and walk up to the guy I fought. "You just couldn't stay away." I smirk at José, before grabbing his head and slamming it into my knee.
A fight breaks out and I gracefully dodge the attacks and respond with my own. 'Thanks Dad' I mentally smile, remembering how my father taught me most of what I know to fight.
I sidekick one of the men in the face and jump, landing a spin-roundhouse kick on another prisoner. I see Nate get captured by two prisoners and Gustavo pulls out a shiv, when Vargas comes in and hits the man on the head, knocking him out. "¿Alguien más necesita que les recuerde las reglas? ¡Alinéense!" Vargas orders us to line up.
Several guards shove us against the dryers and one finds the cross in Nate's jeans. "¿Qué es esto?" the guard asks, and Vargas walks over and takes it from him.
"Are you bringing in contraband?" Vargas asks Nate then turns to one of the guards, "Check the girl."
One of the guards frisks me, and takes the chance to grope my ass and breasts. My left eye twitches and I tilt my head and look at the man, "Try it again and you won't have any hands."
"She's clean," the guard says and gives my ass one last squeeze, making me scowl.
Sam, Nate and Rafe look at me in confusion, before realizing what the guard did. Their eyes darken, and Sam and Rafe move closer to my sides when Vargas gives the other guards some orders. They shove Nate, Rafe, Sam, and I forward, and we're pushed through the corridors and into a spacious office.
Vargas walks in after us and demands the other guards to leave. He shuts the door after they leave and locks it, making Rafe scowl, "Took you long enough. We almost got killed, you know."
Vargas turns around and pulls out a revolver. "You still might," he threatens and Rafe goes silent for a few seconds.
"Vargas- seriously?" he sighs while giving the guard he paid off and annoyed look.
"'Oh, we didn't find anything, must be in a different tower.' Well?" Vargas tosses me the cross.
"A present from the Catholic orphanage I was forced to stay in," I tell him, and he aims his gun at me and cocks it.
"Bullshit."
"Hey, hey, hey, hey look- it's worthless, all right?" Sam moves to stand protectively in front of me.
"You think I'm an idiot!" Vargas shouts and points his gun at the older Drake.
"Okay. You want to renegotiate? Fine. Then stop acting like a third world thug," Rafe snaps and Vargas looks at him, "now put the damn gun away." Vargas smirks and holsters the gun, looking at Rafe who exhales and rolls his eyes, "Thank you. We're willing to give you ah... ten percent."
Vargas laughs and shakes his head, "Think half."
Rafe looks at him like he's insane and steps back almost as if he's offended, "We're doing most of the work. Fifteen. And you'd never find it without us."
Vargas licks his his lips and shakes his head, "Twenty. Evens," he argues and Rafe looks at us.
"Does that sound fair?"
"I can live with it," Sam murmurs though I can tell he's not happy.
"Four-hundred million splits nicely by five," Nate adds on though he's also pissed.
Rafe looks at me and I can tell just by his eyes that he has a plan. "Yeah, it's fine," I tell him with a nod.
Rafe looks back at Vargas and they shake hands, "We have a deal."
Vargas pulls Rafe close and goes to say something when my friend pulls out a shiv and stabs him in the side. Vargas moves to shoot Rafe but my friend grabs the guards arm and points the gun to the ceiling. Vargas pulls the trigger and a bullet lodges itself in the ceiling, a loud noise echoing throughout the room, undoubtedly going to bring the attention of the guards outside the room.
Rafe rips out the shiv and finishes Vargas off by stabbing him in the chest, taking the gun out of his hands. "Are you out of your goddamn mind?!" Nate flips out due to the gunshot.
"Do you want to find out?" Rafe growls and they glare at each other.
I step between the two, sending them a sharp look, "Knock it off you two. The arguing can come later. Right now, we need to get the hell out of here."
Right as I finish speaking the handle on the door jiggles. "Guys, what are we doing here?" Sam asks and Rafe crouches down next to Vargas' body.
"Sticking to the plan. Follow me," he says while grabbing a set of keys.
Rafe unlocks the other door in the room and we run into a brightly lit corridor. "Rafe, where are we going?" Sam asks as we run around the corner.
"The lighthouse. Vargas said the boat is right under the lighthouse."
A bullet goes past my head and I start running in a zigzag pattern. "But which way?" I ask frantically.
"I don't know. We'll get outside and figure it out," Rafe snaps, and we run down a few steps. "Fuck. Dead end."
We look around, and Sam and I spot a window, "The window!"
We both run over to the barred window and push the metal bars away. "There, it's open," Sam says, and we climb out onto the rooftop.
"I don't see the lighthouse," Nate says as we jump from rooftop to rooftop.
"Right now let's focus on getting away from the guards," Rafe responds and we jump towards a construction platform as the prison alarms start blaring.
The four of us grab the yellow bar and drop down to the ground below us, running into a path on our left. We jump over barriers in the way when we start getting shot at from ahead. "Over there. To the left!" Sam shouts, and I make a left turn around a corner.
We run into an open area and climb up some fenced in chutes to a platform up top. We jump over the railing to the ground below, and Sam runs over to a red door only to find out it's locked. "Guys! We can climb this," Rafe says from behind us.
He jumps up and grabs a railing, pulling himself onto the ground above. Nate and Sam go next and I'm the last one to jump up. Rafe and Sam grab my hands and pull me over the railing, so we can get going faster when a bullet pierces my shoulder. A cry of pain leaves my lips, but that doesn't stop me from continuing to run from the guards.
"Another dead end," I say while putting pressure on my wounded shoulder.
"The fire escape. Nathan, get me up there," Sam orders his brother.
Nate boosts him up onto the ladder and Sam kicks it down to us. I go up first, Rafe second, and Nate third to a rooftop. We run across it and Rafe takes the lead, figuring out where to go. Rafe, Sam, and I jump over onto another rooftop and when Nate comes over, he lands on a part that breaks.
"Nate!" I shout, and Rafe stops me from going down to him.
"You're hurt. Sam will go and save him," he tells me and I look into his turquoise eyes that bore into my [E/C] ones.
"Okay," I whisper and he smiles faintly.
"Come on, let's go," Rafe says and we run off so we can meet up with Sam and Nate.
We make our way around the path and onto a balcony where a guard aims his gun at Sam and Nate. "Hola, amigo!" Rafe smirks and attacks the guard.
"Rafe, [Name], good to see you," Sam shouts from below us.
"Kick down that ladder for us," Nate says, and Rafe hits the switch.
"There's the lighthouse," I say while pointing towards it.
"Like I said- stick to the plan," Rafe smirks, and him and I jump to another platform.
We run across it and jump to a wall, climbing around the siding and making our way up into a watchtower. Rafe and I jump off it and grab a railing, pulling ourselves over it. Nate comes over next and Sam follows lastly. We run down a rooftop and start jumping from roof to roof on the different buildings. The sirens that have been blaring since the start continue to go off, and we jump over a railing onto a platform.
Nate, Rafe, and I jump over to the wall under the other platform and the guys pull themselves up before helping me. I turn around and watch as Sam runs towards us, and Rafe starts shooting at some of the guards.
"Sam! We got you!" I shout, and he jumps.
Nate and I grab his wrist, and we get him halfway onto the platform when bullets get fired at us. None hit Nate or I, but Sam wasn't as lucky. "Sam..." I whisper as he coughs out blood.
"Sam. No, you hold on!" Nate exclaims and Sam goes limp, his arms slipping out of our hold. His body falls and hits the rooftop below us, crashing through the metal sheets and out of our sight.
"Sam!" Nate and I shout, and Rafe runs over to us, pushing us down from some bullets that come our way.
"We gotta move," he says, and Nate shakes his head.
"No, no, he's still done there," Nate argues, and Rafe frowns.
"No, he's gone. C'mon, the boat's just beyond the wall."
"Nate," I whisper with tears in my eyes, placing my hand over his and making him look at me, "Rafe's right, Nate. Sam's dead, and we will be too if we don't leave now." He looks back down at the ground where his brother would be lying, and frowns. "Let's go," I tell him and he stands up and looks around in a daze.
Rafe grabs my hand and we start running while Nate follows behind us, stumbling at times. We jump over a railing and land in some high grass, running towards the lighthouse. Rafe and I make sure that Nate stays with us and I zone out, thinking about Sam when I'm suddenly sliding down a cliff and landing in the cool ocean water below.
~15 years later~
"You landed safely I take it," Chloe's voice comes through my cellphone.
"Yep! I'm looking for Elena, she's supposed to pick me up," I chuckle while adjusting my backpack.
"I'm glad our job went that well. You don't have bad luck like Nate does."
"Damn right I don't. We walked away pretty damn rich," I respond, when I see Elena waving me over.
"Well you're already rich, so you're just richer."
"Yeah. Hey, I gotta go, Chloe. Talk with you soon," I tell her before hanging up my phone and walking over to my close friend, "Elena!"
"It's been a few weeks," Elena laughs, and we hug each other. "Nate and Harry miss you. They were like pouting children while you were away."
"I missed them, too, and you of course," I say, and we walk out of the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, the cool morning air greeting me.
"So how did the job go?" Elena asks, and we get into her car.
"Good."
"How good?" She questions while starting the car and pulling out of the parking place.
"Try fifty million dollars, good~" I sing and she almost crashes the car at that number.
"What?!"
"Chloe and I walked away with fifty million each. You see, when I plan the job we almost always get the treasure." I smirk and Elena takes a deep breath.
"Damn. Nate should take some advice from you," she chuckles and continues driving.
"Yeah, but Nate gave up that life after the whole Talbot and Marlowe ordeal, and Harry only does jobs when his lazy ass feels like it." I shrug and we enter downtown New Orleans.
"So, our bills are definitely covered- although they always were since you're already extremely rich," Elena says, and I nod.
"Most definitely. Plus- we can rub it in the guy's face that we make more money," I giggle, and she grins while pulling up to our house, making me smile, "I missed it here."
We get out of the car and carry my bags into our house, setting them down on the hardwood floors. "Who needs lovers when you can live with one of your best friends," I grin while hooking my arm through Elena's.
"Don't let the guys hear you say that. They'll flip," she laughs, and I chuckle.
"Where are they anyway?"
"At JMI, that's where Nate last was, and I sent Harry there before coming to get you, so checking there is probably your best option," Elena says, and I nod before exchanging a hug with her and walking out of the house.
I make my way down the street towards Jameson Marine Incorporated, the job Nate works at, and Harry assists at when he's in the U.S. I walk inside and go to Nate's office only to find him not there, but the door to the pier outside the room is open. I hear voices coming from outside, and I grin and walk out.
"Guess who's returned fifty millions dollars richer!" I whoop with a loud laugh.
Nate and Harry's head snap towards me and their jaws drop, but my eyes land on the person sitting on the left side of the bench. My breath suddenly hitches, and I feel like my heart stops as the man turns his head slightly, a prison tattoo of four birds outlined on his neck.
The signature smirk I've always known him for decorates his rugged face and he chuckles, "Long time no see, [Name]. You've gotten even more beautiful."
I clasp a hand over my mouth in shock, finding my voice to say just one word, "Sam..."