Sam was tempted to let Caeli sleep until she woke herself, she had wrapped the covered up to her chin, apparently sensitive to the cool air in the room. She looked peaceful when she slept, there was no sign of the pain she had gone through and no one would even guess that she was a highly trained killer who had taken down the people who had destroyed her life. You wouldn't think that her entire body was covered with scars from torture designed to make her docile.
You wouldn't think that she had lost her son because of those same people.
A son. That kid, Rafe's kid, was his kid. And he hadn't even noticed. Now he reflected back on it, he always felt that the kid's grey eyes reminded him of Caeli. His facial structure was so similar to Sam's when he had been that age... how had he not noticed?
He was a bit focused on finding out if Caeli was alive, he guessed.
Cassius was always there, reminding him of Caeli and not knowing why until now.
He was a father...
That should be what he was focusing on right now, but he couldn't. The scars that covered Caeli's body were continuously running through his mind. She had worn flesh coloured tights at the auction to hide them, the sleeves on the romper were for the same reason. She always wore long sleeved shirts or jumpers, full length pants... because of the Order. Because he had left her alone after that argument. He should have said he would leave with her, but his stupid ego got in the way.
He brushed some of Caeli's hair off of her face, realising that he never wanted to leave her side again. If he lost her now... he didn't know what he would do.
Especially if he lost her to Rafe.
Rafe was the reason he was out of jail, but he was also the reason that he had been in there in the first place. He could've let the guard in on the money, he and Nate honestly didn't mind that much if it meant they all got to live. Rafe, the selfish dick, couldn't live with losing a bit of money.
Well, technically it wasn't even losing because that quarter had been Caeli's until she left.
Kidnapped. Until she was kidnapped.
There were so many things he had to recorrect in his memory, Caeli had been kidnapped, the kid Rafe took with him everywhere was his and Caeli's son, Nate was married and everyone thought he was dead for fifteen years. He didn't blame them, he could barely believe that he had survived himself. But there was always that dread, that feeling that he had been left behind.
That was why the first thing he did when Rafe broke him out was to see if Caeli was alive. He didn't want her to feel that way...
When he found out that she was, he was almost devastated. That meant she hadn't come looking for him, to check that he was dead. To make sure there wasn't a chance he was alive. That was why he wouldn't tell her about what he did when he first got out, the part of the agreement that Rafe had to fulfil before Sam would even start looking for clues for Avery's treasure.
Sam wanted to see Caeli with his own eyes.
So Rafe took him to America, where he saw Caeli with Nate and Elena, out getting coffee. Something had hit him hard in the chest when he saw Caeli smile that day, that she was happy without him. Rafe had told him to go over once Nate and Elena left, leaving Caeli alone, but something stopped him when he watched Caeli's smile leave her face and she stared at her hands. She then pulled out a necklace from the inside of her shirt, a ring hanging from the chain.
He couldn't go over to her, he knew that ring was the one he had given her and he suddenly felt guilty for blaming her for not coming to find him. She genuinely thought that he was dead...
And so he walked away, vowing that if they ever came to meet again he would lie and pretend that he thought she was dead. He didn't want her to think he was waiting all those years for her to save him, even though that's what he had been doing. She didn't know and that's how it would stay.
Caeli's eyes scrunched in her sleep, her breathing quickening as she began mumbling words he couldn't understand. She had always talked in her sleep, to the point where he had eventually become used to it. That was one of the hardest things after they were separated, was learning how to sleep without someone next to him again. Without Caeli next to him. The strange and lonely silence of not having her there meant he didn't sleep for days, when he was able to sleep it was waking up without her there that served as a stark reminder of what had happened.
She slowly opened her eyes, squinting as her eyes adjusted to the light in the room. Sam had been up for half an hour already, getting everything ready for the day ahead. She sighed as she stretched, pulling the sheets up to her chin again to keep warm.
"What's the time?" She asked, her voice croaky with sleep.
"Nearly seven." He answered, she immediately sat up a worried look on her face.
"We were supposed to leave at half-past-six." She stated.
"I didn't want to wake you..." Sam replied, taking in her features. "Plus Nate hasn't come knocking on the door yet, so I would say he isn't ready either." He added, Caeli threw the sheets off of herself and standing up.
"Yeah well, he's probably depressed about what happened last night with Elena." Caeli responded, grabbing clean clothes out of her bag and going to the bathroom to change. He grabbed the last things he would need for the day's adventures, and got the money for the boat hire ready before she came out again.
She wore a long sleeved shirt, the sleeves rolled up, a pair of jeans and her boots. She readied herself quickly, tucking a knife into her boot and holstering her gun before putting a jacket on.
"Rope?" He checked with her, she sighed before grabbing the rope and grappling hook, attaching it to her belt.
"Let's go." She told him, tying her hair up before walking towards the door. Her attitude seemed different today, she didn't seem to be as adverted to the idea of finding this treasure as she had yesterday. If anything, he would say she looked excited about the day ahead. Maybe she was looking forward to getting Cassius back...
Or maybe she had remembered that this was a part of who she was.
***
"I don't understand how I'm still the only one with a boat licence." Caeli whispered to herself as they neared their island destination. The markings that Nate and Sully had found at the tower overlapped to make the map of an island, the one they were heading to right now. Nate was by himself at the back of the boat, watching the water as he seemed to be deep in thought, Sam was a meter or two away from her, seeming to be doing the same thing.
Her statement didn't reach either of them, as hoped.
"Land ho!" She shouted, shaking them both from their thoughts and getting their attention. Sam and Nate both made their way to the front of the boat, looking through the glass and seeing the island in the distance. Sam had a look of wonder on his face as he saw the island's silhouette against the clouded sky.
"What do you think about that?" Sam asked Nate, who still lacked any kind of joy that Caeli was used to seeing on his face.
"It's pretty cool." Nate replied, half-heartedly.
"Take the wheel." Caeli instructed to the younger brother, who did as he was told as she sat down on the edge of the boat. She knew that if he had a job to do then he could focus on that instead of replaying the night before in his mind. She understood the situation a little too well to not sympathise with him. From Sam's expression he seemed to do the same, even as he walked to the back of the boat to the esky and took out three bottles of beer, one for each of them.
"You know, all this running around, surviving by the skin of our teeth, I don't think we've actually taken a moment to step back and appreciate..." He paused as he took the caps off of the bottles, he was about the throw the trash into the water until he received a pointed look from Caeli, he dropped them on the boat floor instead. "...just how far we've come." He finished, looking at her before handing a bottle to Nate and one to her. She guessed they had come a long way, geographically speaking and emotionally.
Sam was alive, Rafe had her son...
She had never imagined that any of this would be happening, and as they sailed towards the next step to the treasure she realised something else. She may have hated the idea of risking their lives for treasure when they started this idiotic search, but as each day passed she was realising how much she missed working with the brothers and hunting for treasure. Even if there was usually no reward.
She took a sip of her beer, looking up at Sam. They had kissed the night before, and yet that wasn't prominent to her. It was just as if they had picked up where they left off... well, before the argument, she guessed. She had missed him, and only now was she actually accepting that all of this was real. That he was real.
"Sic parvis magna." Sam stated, watching Nate carefully.
"Sic parvis magna." Nate repeated the words, tapping his bottle against Sam's and they both took a drink. With a slight look from Sam, Caeli moved to the back of the boat, aware that whatever conversation was going to continue should be private. But Sam should know that she would be listening in anyway.
"Listen, little brother, she will get over it." Caeli rolled her eyes at Sam's choice of words, and from Nate's sigh she could tell he felt the same. "I mean, we bring back a treasure like that, anyone would."
"Oh my fucking god." Caeli whispered to herself, shaking her head as she watched the horizon behind them. Sam still had no idea on what Elena was like. He still had no idea on women, to be honest.
"I don't know." Nate replied, and Caeli wasn't entirely sure either. Elena was similar to her in many ways, she cared about the people more than the money. She completely understood where Elena was coming from, but she didn't know if this would be the last straw that she could handle. Caeli didn't know if Elena would forgive Nate for this, for lying so heavily and for so long. "I think maybe I've, uh, done this one too many times."
They eventually made it to the island, mostly in silence from there on out. They stopped once they were close, deciding where they should go first.
"Huh, somehow I imagined it bigger." Sam stated, Caeli had to physically restrain herself from rolling her eyes once again.
"Yeah, well we're definitely in the right place, I'll find us a spot to set ashore" Nate replied, completely focused on the task at hand.
"He's not okay, is he?" Sam whispered as he walked to the back of the boat to sit next to Caeli on the edge.
"Well, your pep talk was pretty shit so I'm not surprised." She responded.
"What was wrong with it?"
"What if Nate said all of that to you, about me. That I would get over it because you found a great amount of treasure. How would you react?" She asked him, he seemed to understand then.
"She doesn't care about the money, she cares about him more." He responded, Caeli nodded.
"So you see, Samuel, that was a very wrong assumption. Had I known you were going to go down that path with your damn secret conversation I wouldn't have walked away." She responded, shaking her head. "You don't know Elena, at all. So don't make superficial assumptions about her. They met after he contacted her about finding Sir Francis Drake's coffin, she hosted a TV show called 'Uncharted' and he needed money to be able to find the coffin. They then found El Dorado together, faced monstrous things together, they broke up, then came Shambala... they got married, then Elena left him because he was... too focused on treasure. Then Iram of the Pillars came around, Elena helped Sully and Nate and I. After that, Nate realised how much danger he was putting himself in and decided to retire and live a normal life with Elena which was going perfectly fine until you turned up alive. They've been through a lot together, Sam, understand that and you will understand why Nate is devastated and doesn't know if she's going to come back to him."
Caeli pushed up from her sitting position, walking towards the front of the boat to stand next to Nate as he kept looking for a place to land.
"Well, at least there's an island." Sam stated, looking around.
"At least there's an island." Nate agreed. "Just keep an eye out for anything man-made."
"Ah-ah, you mean pirate-made." Sam corrected, once again, Caeli had to stop herself from rolling her eyes. "So, maybe Libertalia is more of a beach-side shack..."
"Libertalia?" Caeli asked, almost in disbelief. "Was this something that you were supposed to catch me up on last night but didn't?" She asked, watching Sam carefully.
"Yeah... that would be it." He responded.
"For the love of god." She breathed, shaking her head.
"From all of the portraits at the tower I think that what we're looking for is actually Libertalia." Nate explained, Caeli sighed.
"I thought it might be, from that poem in Scotland." Caeli responded, taking out her notebook from the inside pocket of her jacket and scribbling down the note of what Nate had just told her. This was what she enjoyed doing, recording all of the information so she could remember it later. So she could show people... could show Cassius.
"You could have said something." Nate responded, and Caeli shook her head.
"I was working on the assumption that paradise meant Libertalia. You guys would have thrashed me with such little evidence." She responded, closing the book and putting it back in it's safe place.
"Look, I'm not going to say you're wrong but-"
"Wait." Caeli cut Sam off, pointing towards one of the small beaches. "There." A watchtower was on one of the islands that belonged to this place, so Nate stopped the boat and they all jumped onto the sand to go towards it.
"Looks like an old lookout tower." Sam stated once they made it to the base of the olden building.
"You going to climb?" Caeli asked Nate, who was already going into the tower to get to the top and have a look at their surroundings. "Take that as a 'yes' then." Caeli added, watching with concern as Nate disappeared into the watchtower from her position outside of it. Sam then walked into the tower and began climbing. "So we're all going in then." She whispered to herself, beginning to climb after Sam was at a reasonable distance from her.
Once they climbed to the top of the tower they found a symbol on the wall. An arrow.
"That looks promising." Sam said once they were all on their feet in the room at the top of the tower.
"Huh, looks like some kind of symbol." Nate stated the obvious, as per usual.
"Looks like a compass arrow." Caeli said, touching the gold-leafing on the symbol gently before pushing against it. Doing so set some kind of machinery into action, the wall before them opening to become a window.
"Woah, how did you know to do that?" Nate asked, Caeli shrugged her shoulders.
"If I've learnt anything from being around you two, it's that I need to press everything to get anywhere." She answered, resting her hands on the windowsill and looking out. Nate chuckled, and it was the first sign of positive emotion since they left that morning.
"Down there, it's the same symbol." Sam pointed to the beach they landed on and saw a stone block with the arrow on top.
"It's another arrow." Nate responded, Caeli pushed away from the window.
"Then let's go and follow it."