Professor Emily Appleton was silently cleaning up her office, not expecting any interruptions or distress. She longed to go home and sleep, as it had been a long week and her students were beginning to give her much grief as the semester was drawing to a close. As she was picking up her bags to leave, a tall shadowed figure entered her office.

"Professor Emily Appleton, I am very pleased to be seeing you here."

"Sir, these offices are closed now; I am going to have to ask you to leave."

The man smirked and pulled out his cell phone.

"I believe that I will leave, just as soon as you tell me what this is." He whipped out his cell phone and displayed a photo of a wooden board with some sort of ancient glyphs on it. Emily was stunned to see the other piece of the board she had already translated, but she put on her best poker face and tried to look unphased.

"I do not know how to translate this," she replied sternly, "This language has been dead for centuries, it is pre-Columbian and I really am not an expert and…"

"Oh, Professor… I am Mitch Wilkinson, and I will not take no for an answer." He slowly moved closer and closer to Emily, intimidating her slowly.

"Sir…"

"No, please, call me Mitch."

"Uhm… Mitch, it is late, I am unable to help you and I need to go home. Maybe if you come back tomorrow, the University may refer you to someone different." Emily tried to wiggle away from Mitch but he was too fast. Before she could move he had a tight grip on both of her arms and had her against the wall. She struggled but could not escape from his bruisingly tight grasp on her. "Let me go! I cannot help you," she exclaimed wishing that her pleas would really work. She began to yell, hoping that someone else at the university would hear her. It's too late, she thought, I'm always the last one to leave.

"Quiet, right now!" Mitch pulled out his gun and placed it against her head. "I will let you go in a minute, your ex-husband is on his way here right now and you will translate this for him and you will tell him the truth. If you do not, I will find you." He threw her away from him onto her couch. "Sit there and wait, I'll hide."

This can't be happening to me. Emily stifled back a few sniffles and tears, more from anger at being manipulated than fear but remained stoic. She honestly just wanted to go home and not to be bothered. She hated how all this treasure hunting always got her into trouble.

Within minutes, Patrick Gates subtly knocked on her office door.

"Come in," Emily replied slightly frustrated, she just wanted to get this over with.

"Honey," Patrick replied, "I need you to translate this for me, but it's in my cell phone and I can't get it out!" He pulled out his phone and eyed it inquisitively. She loved how he was slow with technology, but now she was just fed up with the world.

"Give me that!" She jerked the cell phone out of his hand, found the picture and carefully analyzed it. She recognized the glyphs as being those of the Olmecs and recalled what the other plank of wood had said and told Patrick coldly "It says to go to Mount Rushmore and look for the noble bird."

"Thank you," he replied and stood, "but… why do you have to be so cold?"

"I am not cold! I am just trying to help you," she replied defensively. Emily really just wanted to crawl into Patrick's arms and tell him the truth about everything, but she knew that would endanger him and her.

"Well, thanks… err… I'll see you. I guess." With that, Patrick left a very emotionally distraught Emily and she fell back on to the couch, exasperated. Mitch appeared from inside her closet with a devious smirk on his face.

"I guess we'll be going on a little adventure." With that, Mitch grabbed Emily by the arm and forcefully took her from her office.

Emily woke up, forgetting what had happened the night before until she felt the bruises on her arms and looked around. She was not in her own apartment. In fact, she was asleep in a bed in a strange place she had never seen before.

She got up and realized that she was wearing an oversized T-shirt that didn't belong to her either. She heard some stirring in the other rooms and knew she wasn't alone. Where am I and who am I with? Emily walked down stairs and found Mitch and two of his friends sitting around a quaint table in their kitchen.

"Our little guide is awake now I see." Mitch joked, nudging his buddies.

"Ha-ha. Now where am I and why did you bring me here?" Emily couldn't believe that she had been kidnapped! These strange men even changed her clothes. Her skin was just crawling thinking about it all.

"Well, to start with, you are at my house, where we will be staying for just a few hours before our plane leaves for Mt. Rushmore to find this treasure. We went back to your apartment, grabbed a few things for you to wear on our little expedition and we will be leaving at noon."

"You broke into my house!" Emily replied infuriatingly. "You are sure relentless. Now you're even taking me on this silly treasure hunting adventure. Oh, what a day! Well, I am I not fed either?"

"Oh, you'll be fed," Mitch replied, "We're not trying to kill you, just to mess with your mind a little bit." Everyone at the table laughed and Emily was scared to death, but could never show it on her face. She tried to remember her younger days when she was a smart and intimidating woman when she was not afraid of anything, but somehow she did not feel any more comfortable.

Emily slowly gathered up her things that Mitch had brought over and decided that she would change into something as normal looking as possible, considering what most of Mitch brought did not match. She finally settled on a lavender-ish blue scoop neck t-shirt and a pair of olive cargo pants with her hiking boots. After Emily had put on her pants and the only other thing she was wearing was her bra, Mitch stormed in.

"Can't you give me just a moment to myself?" Emily yelled like she had never yelled before. She was tired, frustrated and just fed up with all this crap. Mitch tried to keep her calm but she was going ballistic. Finally he pushed her down onto the bed and shook her touching her bare skin with his ice cold hands. She stopped yelling and only whimpered at his touch. He was too rough, she looked over at her arm and saw the bruises from last night and realized those wouldn't be the last of them. He smirked evilly and looked at the weakness in her eyes.

"I don't want any funny business on this trip. We'll find the treasure, you'll go home and all of this had never happened. Am I clear?" Emily nodded as a single tear rolled down her face. She didn't want to show weakness, but she was violated. She was afraid. Afraid for her. Afraid for her family. Afraid for Patrick. She wished someone loving was there for her to run to, but she had no one. She was alone.

She boarded the plane at noon and was prepared for the adventure ahead of her. She knew she was the collateral and everything was at stake.

Climbing all these rocks was beginning to become very repetitive and tiring. Emily hated being the guide on this little 'adventure' for Cibola at Mt. Rushmore. With a gun cocked at her side for the entire trip, she felt very violated and annoyed. Can I just find them what they want and lose them? And where are Patrick and Ben?! Could they just show up sometime?! Mitch was very satisfied with the journey, they knew exactly where to go, but the only problem was keeping Emily quiet and getting the treasure before the Gates' did.

As they crested the top of the next boulder, Emily's heart leapt. There stood Patrick, Ben, Abigail and Riley. She had the strong urge to run out and hug them all, but she knew that she could not show that kind of affection towards Patrick nor was she able to leave the side of Mitch.

"Mom!" Ben shouted and everyone turned around.

"Emily! Wait…" Patrick looked at who she was with and realized that there was trouble. Mitch brought his arm around Emily as though he owned her and whispered in her ear "You better not even think about leaving me." She shivered as his warm breath caressed her neck. Get me out of here! She did not even dare to leave Mitch's grasp.

"Let my mother go," Ben said, "and we'll take you with us to the treasure."

"Or how about this, I take you with us to get the treasure" Mitch replied shortly, increasing his grip on Emily's shoulders.

"Or, you can leave your men, let my mother go, and…" Ben swallowed his pride and said "…we'll give you credit for the discovery of the treasure."

"Done." Mitch shooed off his men and turned Emily around to face him. "It has been fun while it lasted honey," he replied with an evil smirk on his face and he planted a big kiss on her lips. She squirmed to get away but before she could put up a fight he let her go.

When he released her, Emily immediately ran over to hug Ben, and she was longing to hug Patrick, but she knew she couldn't just yet.

After adventuring into the cave, Emily felt a little more secure… until the door locked them in. Great. Now we're really going to die. At least she had Patrick by her side for support.

Suddenly Ben, Abigail, Riley and Mitch walked onto a platform with Emily and Patrick behind them, but the weight of the four against the weight of the two of them was too much and Emily and Patrick were left behind to find their own way. Emily was delighted to be with someone other than Mitch and she really did want to be with Patrick again. She just couldn't let him know that she needed him. She was too strong for that.

Emily and Patrick wandered through the cave looking for other ways out. She soon saw an opening, but it lead to cliff where the only way across was a vine. Neither of them had spoken much yet, but Emily knew they were not going across that way.

Just as Patrick grabbed the vine Emily exclaimed "Don't do that Patrick!" but the loud noise greatly shocked him and he lost his footing and swung across, but he was not able to fully make it all the way. As he came back to Emily's side, he grabbed her and she screamed all the way to the other side. As the crash landed on the hard rock, Emily tried to catch her breath.

"Why did you do that Patrick!? I am so… well… what I mean is this: I don't want to lose you again." Emily began to tear up. She couldn't believe the words that were coming out of her mouth. Patrick reached his arms out and comforted her as though they had never divorced. Emily slowly began to tell the whole story of what had happened over the crazy two days from when Mitch found her until now. Patrick even began to shed a little tear after he saw the intensity of her bruises on her arms.

"I will never let anyone ever touch you like that, do you hear me? I will never let you go again. I will get Mitch for laying his disgusting hands on you if it is the last thing I do." Patrick pulled Emily close to him, but in a loving way and kissed her so passionately, Emily almost fainted. She ran her hands through his disheveled hair and on his chest and he held her by the small of her back. She loved feeling loved. "Can this never end," she whispered into his ear gently. "I will never let you go, so it will never end again," Patrick replied lovingly and with one last soft kiss on the lips, they knew they had to continue on for their son.

Cibola was more than anything Emily could have ever imagined. It was solid gold, just as the myth said, but if they did not get out soon, they would be just a legend as well. Water was slowly filling up the mystical underground and if they did not open the latch into the escape tunnel soon, they would all drown.

"If we don't play this my way, we won't play at all." Mitch shouted over the rushing water. "I leave first or we'll have to start all over again." Mitch and Ben were the only ones strong enough to open the doorway, but the current was so strong that when the door was opened Abigail was swept under with Riley first. Mitch was furious but continued to hold the door open to try to make his escape. He let go of the door, and Emily and Ben were swept underneath faster than Emily could have ever imagined. Patrick and Mitch were caught under the door and only one of them could get through.

Mitch looked Patrick in the eye and said, "Well sir, I believe you know the deal here." Though he was exhausted, Patrick would not give up. "After all you did to Emily, well, I don't believe that was in the deal. I'm not going to kill you, but I'm not going to let you live either!" Patrick experienced a sudden adrenaline rush from his love for Emily and found enough strength to slip under the door before Mitch, trapping him inside.

Emily was overjoyed that Patrick survived and when she saw him come from the other side of the door, she tackled him in a tender embrace.

"I thought I had lost you!" she said, extremely relieved.

"I always keep my promises to those that I love," he said.

With that, Patrick carried Emily out of the cave and into the rest of their lives.