"You want to climb Mount Everest!?" Sully bellowed out, slamming his hand onto the table. "Have you gone insane, Nate!? I'm not exactly goddamn 30 years old anymore!"

"I know that." Nate coolly spoke back, showing off a laid-back attitude, "And yet, that excuse never stopped others from climbing."
Nate and Sully were now resting in a temporary hideout situated within a small apartment, set up in the middle of a small, isolated town north from London. Within the room, there were various maps, images, documents and drawings posted all over the walls; all of them relating to the current and completed plans. On the right wall was a large, spacious window that allowed full sunlight into the room, giving off a pleasant aura. An oak table stood towards the middle of the room with the black rucksack lying on top, yet to be opened. Nate sat down on one of the chairs facing the table and lifted up is legs in a resting position, showing off a lazy posture. Sully, on the other hand, stood up from his own chair on the opposite side of the table with his hand leaning on the flat surface, unable to hold back his frustration. It had been half of a day since the late-night heist and Nate seemed to still have full of energy coursing through his body, ready to investigate the contents of the bag. He now began to wear his usual attire consisting of a dirt-brown top, blue jeans and white sneakers.
"Think about it though; we've done so many adventures recently." Nate enthusiastically assured him, eyes lit up with aspiration as he sat up from his lazy position. "Don't forget, we found El Dorado AND Shambhala! Climbing Mount Everest would be nothing compared to them!"
"Hold on, Nate. Give that a rethink; I wasn't with you during the Shambhala pursuit. And I, you and Elena were all close to death at various points within the last 3 years!" Sully argued back, keeping a realistic and logical mind. "Besides, what exactly do you want to accomplish during this expedition? I know it isn't just to climb the mountain."

"Ah, you know me too well." Nate chuckled, giving a cheesy grin as he sat back on his chair. "Have you ever heard of George Mallory and Andrew Irvine's Expedition from 1924?"
"The one where the two disappeared near the peak? Of course I have." Sully nodded, but began to feel both curious and wary.

Nave gave off a slight chuckle and speeded out on the table numerous files and news articles from research he had looked into from weeks ago.
"Ever since their untimely deaths, there have been speculations whether or not those two actually were the first to peak Everest." Nate began to explain, hoping to reassure Sully with the research he gathered up. "When George Mallory's corpse was recovered in 1999, the photo of his wife was not in amongst his gear. Now looking back to interviews from before he took up the expedition with Andrew Irvine, he stated that he would place the photo on the peak of Mount Everest if he ever succeeded the ascent."
"So let me guess; you think he made it up to the peak?" Sully wondered, although rolling his eyes.

"Yeah; in fact, I guarantee that the photo of his Wife is still up there." Nate confidently nodded in reply. "Not only that, but I bet Andrew Irvine's corpse is buried at the peak."
"Sounds ... lovely." Sully shuddered, but then began to express his own thoughts. "Look, Nate; I admire your ongoing enthusiasm with climbing Everest but we have many loopholes with your plans. For starters; I'm not fit enough to climb all the way to the peak of Everest, and there are only two of us that are planning the trip. Also, we haven't got any of the right equipment set up; and more importantly, there have already been so many expeditions before us who tried to find the photo and Irvine's Body and have had no luck at all!"
"But they DID find Mallory's corpse! Besides, all I want to do is to prove that they did reach the peak." Nate clarified with him, making sure to get his point across. "We have all the time in the world to prepare for this expedition, so we can order all the equipment and supplies we need. You don't have to tag along to reach the peak if you don't want to; you can stay behind at the final base camp."
"But Nate, we have no money to fund the Expedition." Sully argued, various questions still forming in his mind.
"That true …" Nate then began to think, only to immediately answer back with a small, cocky grin, "… but we do have Elena to help us out with all of this."
"Oh wait, let me guess; you're going to try and convince her after what you just did?" Sully sarcastically asked, lowly chuckling. "Yeah, good luck with that."
Just then, Nate's mobile phone rang loudly in his jean pocket. Both he and Sully glared at each other with competitive eyes, betting on who would be correct.
"Ah, perfect timing." Nate stated confidently, taking out his phone from his pocket and clicking the answer button, "Hey gorgeous!"
Sully crossed his arms and rolled his eyes, trying to hold back the frustration in his mind.
"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO!?" Elena abruptly roared from the other side of the phone connection, causing Nate to literally leap out of his seat in fright.
"Ah … so you heard about last night, did you?" Nate answered back somewhat cautiously.
"What … the report of theft of various artefacts and a failed chase of up to 20 police officers!? Not only that, but the fact that this incident has cropped up all over newspapers, news channels and especially the internet!?" Elena answered back in anger. "Yeah, I heard about it!"
"And … you assume it was me out of the 6 million people living in the UK?" Nate then cheekily asked, although being wary not to light a fuse with her.
"Well you do seem very casual about it," Elena then reacted, finding his attitude unbelievable. "… And I don't see anybody else's face on the images and videos."
Nate's sight suddenly shot towards Sully with worry. Sully, in turn, gave out a disapproving look back, wondering what Nate had actually expected.
"Elena … I have my reasons for 'borrowing' the artefacts." Nate finally admitted with a sigh, scratching the back of his head whilst showing an awkward expression. "Don't worry; I'll give them all back when I'm finished with analysing them."
"I don't think it would be as simple as just handing them back." Elena irritably argued back, but then decided to change to a more important question, "Nevertheless, why do you need to 'analyse' them?"
"I can't tell you until you get back to the hideout." Nate told her truthfully, wary about anyone listening in on the conversation. "Where are you anyway?"
"Funny thing is … I'm at the scene of the crime." Elena answered back, her tone of voice hinting she was grinning about it.
"WHAT!?" Nate leapt up in shock, his light-hearted expression dropped completely to a worry. "Why are you there!?"
"I have to assist with a news report on the incident." Elena began to explain, her voice beginning to show heightened aggression. "If my boss finds out that I'm in a relationship with the culprit of the burglary, we will both end up in a pile of shit!"
"But you work for a TV programme, not the News!" Nate yelled, gritting his teeth.
"I decided to take it up as a part time job whilst we stayed in England," Elena answered back, frustration clearly in her voice. "Even though it was something YOU should have thought about instead of me!"
"But you know I'm not the working type!" Nate moaned, knowing all too well he and job work never mixed.
"We all have to work Nate!" Elena shouted back, making her statement load and clear. "No wonder you're broke!"
"I'm not ... that broke!" Nate argued back, albeit poorly due to Elena's words hitting the nail on the coffin.
"(Sigh ...) Whatever … I'm almost done here, so I'll be back at the 'hideout' soon." Elena then told him, unable to bring herself with continuing the argument. "You better have a decent excuse on stealing those artefacts!"
"I do, I do!" Nate innocently spoke back, giving out his most honest tone.
"Right..." Elena groaned regretfully.
She then hung up. Nate gazed dimly at his mobile hesitantly, and then slipped it back into his pocket. He turned back towards Sully, who had been showing off an amazed smirk after listening in to the whole conversation.
"Great ... convincing her maybe harder than I first thought." Nate admitted to Sully, dipping his head back on the chair with a groan.
"To be honest, I was expecting her too be like that." Sully told him, taking a seat on the opposite side of the table. "You're a treasure hunter, Nate, not a thief!"
"But these are important to the expedition-!" Nate began to argue back, but Sully hastily put up a hand to hush him.
"Then you need to prove their importance." Sully told him, his tone as serious as it could ever be. "Show me the artefacts."
Nate hesitated for a moment, and then nodded to him. He instantly unzipped the rucksack and took out the contents from inside. Sully then realized that these items weren't at all artefacts ... but equipment. Nate began to take out some old, worn out thick clothing, an old compass, two pairs of goggles and a pickaxe. As each item of equipment was placed on the table, Sully's expression grew more and more confused.
"This is more or less what I got before I was chased." Nate began to explain, making sure everything had been taken out of the bag. "All of this was found with George Mallory when his body was found."
"OH GREAT!" Sully abruptly bellowed out, unable to hide his disgust, "Not only did you steel valuable objects from the goddam UK government but it's of things worn by a frozen dead guy from 1924! That has definitely made my day!"

"Give me a chance Sully!" Nate spoke back abruptly, hoping to get through to him as clearly as possible. "It may not look it, but these are all evidence from the 1924 expedition! Without these, many people would still believe they didn't make it to the peak!"
"These aren't exactly things that would cause such a commotion though." Sully wondered with a confused tone.
"I ... did make quite a scene during the heist." Nate admitted with embarrassment, turning his head away awkwardly.
"Brilliant ... listen to me Nate: researchers have gone through everything on Mallory's equipment and it had just lead with more questions about what happened." Sully then began to explain, beginning to see how pointless the equipment had been.
"I know that … but that is also why I took the equipment." Nate suddenly assured him, instantly turning around Sully's statement.
"Wait … Please don't tell me you think they all missed something?" Sully then groaned, knowing what had been going through Nate's mind.
"There is always something they missed, Sully." Nate stated confidently.
"And you think you can find that missing piece so many researchers could not find?" Sully wondered in a groan.
"There is always the possibility." Nate then answered in a simple statement.
For the next hour, Nate and Sully had examined every piece of equipment they had in their procession; Nate went through the various clothing whilst Sully examined the goggles, compass and pickaxe.
"There is the possibility that the photo had fallen out." Sully then spoke out to Nate, finding this examination getting them nowhere, "It could have been before he died, during his death or even sometime between his death and when his body was found."
"No, all the pockets are in-tacked except for a few minor holes and I am completely sure that Mallory stored it in a fairly safe place." Nate confidently stated back, checking every part of the clothing.
Suddenly, the door on the other side of the room swung open. Nate and Sully both leaped out of their skin by the sudden shock and hastily glared towards the direction of the sound. They instantly, and regretfully, noticed Elena enter the room, the expression on her face showing no amusement whatsoever.
"So, all this was what you took?" Elena questioned with demand.
"Yeah ..." Nate admitted cautiously, but then hesitantly stated. "…and I have a favour to ask you, Elena."
Nate began to thoroughly explain to her about all of his plans for the upcoming expedition to Mount Everest and about his intentions to uncover the truth behind the George Mallory and Andrew Irvine Expedition from 1924. Elena kept silent and listened to him throughout his explanation. But, Nate knew she was completely angry with what he had done during the previous night.
"So, what I want to ask you is ... would your TV show be willing to fund this expedition for me?" Nate pleaded, praying to God she would say yes.
"Like Hell I'm going to do fund that! Not after what you did last night!" Elena yelled in detest. "Why don't you go ask another fool to fund it, I refuse to take part!"
"But you're the only one I rely on for this." Nate hastily admitted to her, trying everything to change her mind.
"Well then, maybe you remember the last time I funded for an expedition back when we searched for Sir Francis Drake's coffin!" Elena argued back, proving that she would not be swayed easily. "Let us not forget that we were attacked by pirates! And to add to that, we had no permit!"
"That was ages ago!" Nate assured her with honesty. "You know I would make sure to thoroughly plan this time! I don't make cheap moves like that anymore!"
"And yet you go and rob government property!" Elena roared back.

Just then, Sully stood up from his seat and abruptly slammed his hand against the table surface, causing both Elena and Nate to leap up in fright.
"Elena, we will make sure this time that everything is planned correctly and large amounts of preparation are put in place." Sully butted in with a serious expression and tone, wishing for this argument to end before it got any worse.
"How will I be sure that I can trust you two?" Elena then questioned cautiously, considering Sully's statement.
"Because you wouldn't be in a relationship with Nate if you didn't trust him." Sully answered back, his eyes glaring with complete honesty.
Elena turned and glared at Nate, who gave a nervous smile in return.
"Fine, I'll fund the expedition. But you better keep your end of the bargain and plan everything thoroughly!" Elena warned them both, pointing a finger towards them.
"I promise." Nate accepted instantly yet cautiously.
Elena gave out a slight nod; she spun around and strode out the room, slamming the door behind her. There was a moment of silence in the room, both Nate and Sully gazing towards the door.
"Why does Elena always have to be so tight with these things?" Nate moaned, breaking the silence.
"To be fair, your ideas are normally dodgy." Sully admitted, crossing his arms. "Anyway, first of all, need an actual team for this expedition. We only have 3 people so far ... if Elena does decide to join us."
"Don't worry too much about that, I know exactly the person who would help us." Nate assured him, sudden excitement appearing on his face.

The sudden change in emotion caught Sully off guard, causing a shocked glare to appear from his eyes.

Nate continued on, "He is an old friend of mine and he runs countless of expeditions!"

"Right … and who is this guy?" Sully queried, giving off a puzzled look.

"His name is Richard Tyler; I'm going to meet him in Scotland in a few days." Nate answered back, showing a determined grin.