"Nigel!" Came Sydney's cry of exasperation as once again, her assistant was in the clutches of a henchman, with a gun pointing at his temple.

Strangely though, Nigel did not seem scared like he usually did. He seemed irritated.

"For god's sake. You boys need to find new ways of negotiation." Nigel sighed, not at all seeming concerned that a man was about to pull the trigger and blow his brilliant brain to bits.

The Italian jarhead with the gun seemed mildly distracted by the nonchalance his hostage was displaying. Taking advantage of this, Sydney knocked the gun out of his with a kick and then proceeded to knock the man out of his wits with a right hook in the face and then an elbow to his head. As expected, her rival was out cold within seconds.

"Good job as always" said Nigel as he pulled himself off from his position on the floor.

"Thanks" replied Sydney, Eyeing her assistant. He seemed unfazed by the ordeal but there was something off about him.

"You ok?"

"Yea…just you know, annoyed. Its like I have bulls-eye pained on my forehead."

"Oh Come on. I think you did great today Nigel." Sydney said, playfully hitting him on he shoulder.

"Hmm" Nigel nodded, clearly not buying her attempt to reassure him. Sydney didn't push the subject, hoping that her friend would forget all about it soon enough.

------------------------------

One week later

Tired

That was the only way Sydney could describe herself at the moment. She was sitting in her office, buried under mounds of paperwork and essays, slowly digger her way out. She and Nigel had just arrived back from India this afternoon, after finding the original scrolls of Lord Rama, written in his own handwriting. They were both so exhausted from their trip that they were ready to crash on their desks. However, just as they returned to their office, they were mobbed by students, looking for explanations on various courses, since the exams where just around the corner. After that, the day had just turned into one long battle, Sydney and Nigel against the mountain of papers they had to mark before the end of the day. It seemed to Sydney that the paper was winning.

A soft knock on the door, pulled Sydney out of her stupor.

"Come in"

"Syd. You done yet?"

"Not even close. You?"

"yea, just finished the last pile." At that Sydney raised her eyebrows

"How did you get done before me. Your pile was bigger than mine."

"Too much practice maybe.' Nigel shrugged. "Listen, I was hoping to get out of here before 8. is that OK?"

"Got a hot date Nigel?" Sydney asked teasingly. She cold barely remember the last time she had seen her best friend go out on a date. Their free time in the last few months had been reduced to just barely getting eight hours of sleep during the night.

"No, I just had to go meet a friend."

"Sure go ahead. I've got a lot to get through, so I'll be here."

"Why don't I relieve you off some of that and take it home with me. I'll mark the papers at night?"

"No its ok…"

"Syd, you haven't even had dinner yet. Let me help."

"You already have…" Ignoring her, Nigel grabbed more than half of the assignments on Sydney's desk and stalked out the door.

"Have a goo night Syd, go get some food." He called back, while stuffing books and papers into his bag,

"Thank Nige! I owe you one."

"Sure." He called out again, before leaving Sydney alone in her office.

She sat back smiling to herself. What would she do without her assistant, she wondered. He was always there for her whenever she needed him, he supported all her decisions and most of all, he made her feel like she could do anything. It was his belief in her that sometimes made her impulsive and sometimes cautious. He made her feel invincible, but also had enough faith in her to always be his savior. It was also this faith that scared her sometimes. She couldn't bear to let Nigel down. He was the only person in the world aside from her dad, whom she truly cared about. So, if she had to answer the question, she'd be completely shattered without Nigel Bailey.

"Hey Nigel. Wanna go grab a bite?"

"No thanks Claudia. I have to be somewhere in about 15 minutes. I was just heading out."

"What is up with you these days?"

"What do you mean." Replied Nigel, a bit too quickly.

"Oh don't think I didn't notice. You keep leaving before 8 every other day. You're up to something Nigel Bailey. What is it?" Claudia demanded, almost threateningly.

"I happen to have a life outside of ancient studies Claudia. In case you've forgotten."

"Oh please, you stay here longer than the janitor does. "

"I do not. And I don't wish t discuss this any further. Night Claudia."

Claudia watched Nigel leave the office, swearing to get to the bottom of this new "thing" Nigel was doing

3 weeks later

It was an ambush! They had need lured into the hunt, only so that they could find it for a rival relic hunter. Now, Sydney and Nigel were surrounded by nine burley men, all waiting for the opportune moment to strike. Sydney made the first move, taking the man closest to her by surprise. From then on, all hell broke loose. She was fighting for her life, attacking and blocking the blur of hands and feet charging at her. She didn't even have to time to check on Nigel. She could hear the sound of struggle voming from behind her but she couldn't tell if the muffled sound of someone catching a blow was Nigel or one of the goons.

All of a sudden, she felt a sharp pain in her skull, which abruptly stopped all the attacks in her direction. Sydney was dimly aware of one of the goons staring up at her with a baseball bat in his hand, as she fell to the floor. The last thing she heard was, Nigel calling her name, and her heart leapt at the thought that he was defenseless now. Her last thought as the world went blank, was a final prayer to whatever God was listening, to save her best friend.

The next time Sydney woke up, she was propped up against the wall where she had fallen. Nigel was kneeling on the floor next to her.

"Hey. You ok?"

"Nigel? What happened?"

"We were ambushed. You got hit over the head." Becoming more aware of her surroundings, Sydney remembered the predigament they had been in before she had been hit. Panicking slightly she cought hold of Nigel's arm.

"Did they take the relic?"

"Don't worry. Its right here." Nigel assured, as he pulled the Appollo's amulet out of his pocket. At this Sydney became even more alert, expecting the thugs to come back for the relic. It was only then that she noticed that all ten of their attackers were littered all over the floor, mostly unconscious.

"What happened to these guys." Sydney asked, pointing her chin in the general direction of the goons.

"You did your usual thing." Nigel shrugged.

Sydney strained to remember this, but only remember being hit over the head and falling. She was sure she hadn't gotten a chance to take 10 men out after her head connected with the bad.

"I don't remember that part. I guess I must have hit my head a bit too hard."

"I guess so. You ready to go?"

"yea…lets get out of here." With Nigel's help Sydney got to her feet and began to make her way out of the temple.

As she walked ahead of her assistant, she didn't see the smug expression on Nigel's face as he stepped over one of the thugs.

The next day, Claudia found a karate outfit in Nigel's gym bag that was lying behind his desk.

The 8pm mystery was thus solved.