Merry Christmas Eve, everyone!
Chapter 176: The Honeymoon Part Five
Bora Bora - 15:39 PM
Emily, Keith, and Naomi run through the beach onto the road leading up to the resort, turning once they approach the building. There were only tourists and hotel staff around but they know the armed men in their room-turned-makeshift mobile laboratory will be coming down to find them and Daniel. They don't know where Daniel is after he jumped or how many armed men are in Bora Bora, but they can't stand as a group of sitting ducks.
"We need to split up," Keith states.
"I'm running to Daniel," Emily says. "You two cause a diversion."
Before they could say anything, Emily runs towards the back of the resort. Keith and Naomi watch her until they disappear which might've been a mistake since they notice the baddies walking out of the resort. They don't even resemble tourists in their dark garb with armed weapons concealed under jackets in the blazing heat. No effort in blending in but it's not like anyone else bats an eye. Keith and Naomi stand still against the resort's walls, lowering shades as they scope the scene and hope not to be caught.
"Got a diversion plan?" Keith wonders.
"Uh…" Naomi mutters before smiling. She clears her throat. "Oh my god! I just saw Emily Stark and her new husband! They're on their honeymoon!"
Instant silence outside the resort. People have definitely heard the news that they got married, maybe read the article and saw the pictures. Maybe they want to find her trophy husband. It's not that Daniel's a trophy husband … he fell in love with a woman who somehow had a lot of money. But that doesn't matter. Suddenly, people start running around trying to find them, even trampling the armed men. Keith and Naomi duck towards the back of the resort, heading back inside where people haven't heard the news of Emily's presence. Who knows, maybe they'll be left alone since Stark's here - or Stark-Banner - but that's wishful thinking.
"My Sci-Tech goddess, you're amazing," Keith says, making Naomi grin.
-o-
Emily runs around back and approaches an afternoon outdoor workout class. She dances through, keeping in rhythm as she looks around. She didn't want to boogie as she was running for her life, but it was the only way to cross through quickly. Someone grabs her arm and she thought it was a dancer but their grip is tight. With her free hand, she grabs the diamond from her cleavage and shoves it in her mouth before whipping around and seeing Daniel.
"Nice throw," Emily says, wedging the diamond under her tongue.
"Nice catch," Daniel responds, grinning at her.
"Want it back?"
Emily pulls the collars of Daniel's floral shirt and presses him into a kiss. Before he could reciprocate, Emily pushes the diamond into his mouth with her tongue, seeing the pure shock and horror in his widened eyes. He didn't break the kiss but she tries not to laugh. He nearly chokes on it but he's done it to here before with a USB.
"Daniel," Emily mutters.
"What?" Daniel responds as he spits their fake diamond in his hand.
"Ruthenium Nitrogen."
Forget spy language. Sometimes, they use the elements of the periodic table to talk. Instead of the first words of sentences, it's the chemical symbol for each element. Ruthenium Nitrogen. Ru N. Run.
" … oh," Daniel mutters once it clicks and they speed out of the dance class.
-o-
Keith and Naomi found the place in the resort with the most people to blend in. The resort's indoor pool. They stick out since they're in island civvies instead of bathing suits, but they grab the complimentary towels to cover themselves as they scurry past the lifeguard's post.
"No running on deck!" The lifeguard yells at them.
"We're not running!" Keith yells back.
"Not important," Naomi scolds.
Keith pulls his phone from his pocket as they duck behind the diving board. "I'm calling an extraction team to handle them because I'm tired of running."
As Keith types away on his phone, he and Naomi notice the armed men walking along the pool deck scoping the scene. Naomi takes Keith's hand and climbs up a water slide to hide. They duck at the top, peeking out, but then get pushed down. It's supposed to be one person at a time but they both tumble in tandem into the pool, losing their towel disguises that wouldn't have mattered at that point.
"Little shit…" Naomi grumbles at the kid who's laughing from the top.
Naomi and Keith swim over to the edge of the pool closest to the exit. They run through, the bright sun slowly drying them off as they run through the perfectly manicured lawns. They're definitely being chased now and don't need to look back and check.
They spot Emily and Daniel stopping at the curb of the road, each having rental motorcycles. Naomi jumps on Emily's and Keith joins Daniel's as they speed off through the island.
"What happened to you two?" Daniel asks since they're both soaked.
"Some asshat kid pushed us," Keith responds, "but anyways, we have to put on a show. Destroy the fake diamond and call authorities. I sent for some signal but I don't know if it went through since I wounded up in a water slide and then the pool. Now my phone is busted. Lucky Gen is hiding in a ditch somewhere."
"If you wanted to destroy a diamond, then just break it with another diamond," Daniel suggests.
"Or smash it," Keith says.
"Or burn it," Emily adds. "It's carbon so it'll react like coal."
"That's only at pressures around 100x atmospheric pressure," Naomi says.
They turn on the road and their answer reveals itself on the horizon, standing out in the green grasses against the blue sky.
"There are volcanoes," Daniel says.
"Open for tourists?" Naomi questions.
"Not important."
They speed up and park at the bottom of the volcano. Lucky for them, the site was open to tourists but they didn't have time to pay so they showed off their SHIELD badges to cut right through. They run up the bridge path and cut through the employee-restricted paths, keeping their SHIELD badges out. Once they've reached their limit, as far up as they could go to the entrance of the volcano.
Before they could turn back around, they're instantly cornered by the armed men and more. Daniel and Keith shove Emily and Naomi behind them as they look around, trying to see a way out but there are too many men and guns.
"What if they start shooting?" Naomi asks.
"It's fake," Emily says referring to the diamond. "Let's just give it to them."
"Won't they catch on if we surrender it that easily?" Daniel questions.
"They don't look that smart," Keith states. "Give me the diamond."
Keith snatched the diamond from Daniel and didn't hesitate to throw it into the volcano. Nobody knows if it went into the volcano or fell amongst the rocks but at least it looks like the encrypted diamond is now missing.
"I think I dislocated my shoulder," Keith says, rolling it back.
Daniel locks eyes on Emily and he knows what her parted lips and etched brows are relaying wordlessly. He knows that she isn't reliant on weaponry or her suit since she knows her mind is her best shot. Amour, to her, is just fashion for the battlefield.
He knows what he has to do and he hates it. God, it's his honeymoon.
Daniel's eyes flash green but he stops when SHIELD quinjets appear above them, whirring at top speed as they uncloak themselves. Ropes fall from the quinjets and agents slide down, guns pointed.
Daniel sighs relief as his eyes go back to brown. They're all relieved as the extraction team Keith called got the message and showed up on time to handle the armed men. The tourists nearby are getting their money's worth from seeing this sight rather than the dormant volcano.
"Okay, you two," Keith says to the newlyweds, "I am so, so very sorry about all this. Your honeymoon ended up being this catastrophe."
Emily and Daniel glance at each other, grinning as they take each other's hands.
"This was the honeymoon of the lifetime," Emily tells him.
"Are you sure?" Keith asks.
"Positive. It was fun."
"The honeymoon of a lifetime," Daniel repeats.
"Okay," Naomi says, "diamond's safe and still being decrypted. Look, Keith and I will handle it since it should be decoded by the end of the week. Go be married or something."