A/N: If you read this story's first chapter before, (pre-July of 2013), I suggest reading it again, as some parts have been changed and updated. That's all! Thanks for reading! Also, my titles tend to have Panic! At the Disco length titles, so the full ones will be pasted in each chapter and shortened ones in the actual navi.
Chapter One - There's Someone Waiting Across the Pond for Me
Amy leaned her head against the window.
Another day, another plane, she thought.
She was sitting on the plane with Dan who was, per usual, stuffing his face with Doritos and Nellie with her music up so loud that the pilot could probably hear it. And they were in the back row. Normally Amy would be catching up on her sleep, but she couldn't even close her eyes. They were going to the last place on earth she would want to be.
London.
Even the thought of it made her shudder and become uncharacteristically angry. As soon as they had figured out where to go next, she had been dreading the moment when the plane would land. When she got off the plane, he would be out there somewhere. She couldn't even think his name. Ian. Even though most of the time just thinking of him made her want to punch him in the face, everyone once in a while she would see something strange in his eyes, something that could almost be called affection. Just knowing that he could be right around the corner made her furious and happy at the same time. But mostly furious. When she finally had to face him, which she undoubtedly would as he and his sister invariably crossed their path every trip, would she be strong enough? As the airplane doors opened and she got her things, she realized it. She just didn't know.
Dan lead the way to the baggage claim, hyped up on sugar.
"I wonder what we're looking for?" he thought out loud.
Nellie replied, "Saladin." But she knew what he meant. Why were they here? Dan had been thinking about it the entire flight. Why London? What was so special about it? Why not... Brazil or... Alaska? Why the one place they knew they could be hunted down within seconds? He was still thinking about it as they came around the corner to the baggage claim. And there he was.
Ian. He was standing there, right in front of them, holding Saladin's cage, the same as always. Except, two things were missing. His sister, Natalie and his ever-present smug smile. Instead, he was looking guilty, as if he wasn't supposed to be there. Actually, Amy thought, he looked practically wary, like someone was going to get him. And someone probably was.
Amy opened her mouth to ask how he knew they were going to be there, but answered her own question. Of course the Lucians would have tabs on the flight rosters and been keeping an eye out for anyone who could possibly be related to the Cahills.
"What do you want, Cobra?" Dan asked defensively.
Ian's smile returned at Dan's words. "I'm only here for a kind word. I promise I won't harm any of you."
Those words made Amy explode on the inside. "H-how can we know we can trust you?" Amy stuttered, "After all y-you've done?"
Ian's smile vanished. "I only want a word." he said.
"Fine then, t-talk." Amy replied.
"In private?" Ian asked, "Please?"
"If you're going to talk to us, then talk to all of us." Dan said.
"I'd rather not." Ian said carefully, "I'll only talk to one of you. How about you Amy?"
"Oh no you don't, Cobra. You'll be talking to me." Dan pointed to himself.
"Well, alright then." Ian replied as he pulled out his phone.
"Who are you texting?" Nellie said questioningly.
"Oh, nobody." Ian said, shutting off said phone. "So are you going to come talk or not?" he asked Amy.
"F-fine" Amy followed him over to some chairs and sat down as far from him as possible while still being within hearing range.
"Oh well," Ian sighed, "I came here to make you a deal. And a fair deal at that."
"Okay..." Amy said. "What?"
As Amy and Ian were discussing the deal, Dan and Nellie were trying hard to figure out what they were saying.
"Okay but really, what's going on here?" Dan asked Nellie, "He just shows up and expects us to trust him?"
"Well," Nellie said, "at least he didn't bring his brat of a sister. That's a good sign, right?"
Once she said it, Amy and Ian came back from their "conference."
As soon as Ian left them, Dan asked, "What happened? What'd he say?"
"We made a deal." Amy replied quietly, "I'll tell you later."
They went down to the baggage claim area to wait for their luggage, Dan growing more and more impatient but the minute.
By the time they got their bags and went over to the bookstore to get some guidebooks, Dan had nearly exploded. He was bouncing up and down in the aisle while Nellie and Amy started looking for books that they thought would be helpful in the search.
"So, what did he say? What did he say?" Dan asked impatiently.
"Calm down, will you kiddo?" Nellie said as she tried to get him to stand still, "You got way too much sugar on the plane."
"Dan, if you stop bouncing, I'll tell you about the deal." Amy said.
Dan immediately got very serious.
"So, basically," Amy started, "Ian will make sure the Lucians don't know we're here in exchange for us telling him the clue when we find it."
"You agreed to that?" Dan practically yelled, only to be immediately shushed by Nellie. He couldn't believe it. First of all, they weren't actually only here for the clue. And second, even if they found it, why would they give it to that bucket of slime?
"No Dan, I told him we'd think about it. So what do you think?" she replied.
Of course we shouldn't do it. That was all Dan could come up with. But then he remembered the sharks in Australia, the snake and spiders in the mine shaft, the propeller in Africa, the poison in the vial and the fire and he realized that if they didn't agree to the deal, they might as well just walk up to Isabel and tell her to kill them. She would be after them as soon as she knew they were here.
"Well, if we don't they'll kill us. And if we do, I'll kill us. So I guess we'll have to agree. And if we don't find the clue then, oh well, I guess we couldn't give it to them." Dan said carefully.
"Good idea. So, I guess we'll agree then?" Amy said.
"Agreed." Dan said.
A/N: So, if you read this before, I would love to hear what you think of the changes so pleases review! And if this is your first time reading it, you should also review ^_^ Reviews are like my crack.
