- Chapter Fourteen -

Fifteen Hours Too Many

Preparations coming along to (finally!) get the show on the road - several hours too many lost in the ex-con's opinion - the boys began to bustle about the low-rent and improvised safe house to pack all the necessary supplies that they might need. So mostly climbing gear, transportation essentials, and minimalist emergency first aid. Still on the mend and not trusted by the veteran adventurer to grab anything useful the first time around, the teen curled up on a damp windowsill, pretended to not notice how filthy her perch was, and idled by. Viewing the opinion to be the equivalent of not being able to find her way out of a paper bag if her life had depended on it, there just wasn't enough left to let that eat away at her. Despite not being completely oblivious to the way the world worked, she was fine with being left alone to her own devices.

It gave her time to observe what they deemed to be the most useful on the journey, and to think. But not about the diseases she'd probably contracted from prolonged exposure to the frigid concrete block below or accidentally touching some of the spray paint that had seeped through from the outside. Worrying about that kind of thing was what her handler did, she just "enjoyed" the ride. Recovering from her almost-drowning and the head injury, a lot had changed between picking up her copy of A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pyrates to now.

Feeling too much like a bad pop song or poorly written script that was stuck on repeat, honestly Daniella wasn't quite sure where she stood with her mother. Angry about being abandoned to utter strangers during a medical emergency, part of her just didn't want to think about the woman ever again, yet the inner adolescent that had yet to grow up was nigh convinced that this disappearance was something to fret over. She didn't ask, and no one was telling her anything, so the teen could only assume that her mom was fine. Wherever she was.

Also no longer so sure about the concept of unconditional love, the last time they spoke her mother hadn't exactly been proud of her daughter either. Thinking about that gloomy prospect served only to erode her innards and make her angrier, because she hadn't done anything to disappoint her mom, whereas the woman had lied and bartered her daughter off like cattle. This time she was innocent of any wrongdoing.

Lit spirit of teen rebellion growing stronger than it ever had in the past, the flames inside inspired bad thoughts. Lips whispering something inaudible into her phone, Daniella moved her gaze from Ms. Frazer to Mr. Drake, bent over the table as he scribbled down a list on everything that needed to be restocked before they left. Light jeans curved just the right amount and disturbed only by an empty holster and the bottom of a knitted field of azure, it had crossed her mind to earn the scorn, although that in turn was something else she was having a hard time wrapping her head around.

Call ending with a firm groan that sounded half a purr, Chloe returned her cell to her back pocket and crossed her arms over her cornflower windbreaker. Though the shades were different, it was too much blue for Daniella's taste, however it couldn't be said that the career thief didn't look stunning as she stretched. Limbering up for a long drive and an even longer trip, she called out to the heiress before grabbing a set of keys from the oval obelisk on the wall by the front. Even sporting a streak of silver in the front, there was no doubt in anyone's mind that the woman could stop traffic.

"Ready, love?"

Approached by the young lady for a private word when it was agreed that it was time to set out, Frazer had caught on almost right away that an extra item was needed on the shopping list. They had only spoken maybe twice at that point so it was still embarrassing for the child to admit, but it was a talk she felt they needed to have, woman-to-woman. Clearing it with the babysitter before he had an aneurysm and jumped to the conclusion that she had kidnapped the teen, Chloe merely said that she thought it was a good idea that someone had a good long talk to the girl about the birds and the bees before letting her into the wild. Drake obviously didn't like the prospect of what the real talk would entail, however he had agreed when she clued him in on the way that women worked. It was almost as good a picture as when she broke her ex.

Snatching the list from Sam before he had the chance to finish it, the dark haired beauty scanned the crumpled notebook paper for all of six seconds with her glorious gray graze before folding it up and slipping the paper inside her sky blue coat. From the way his hazel eyes watched her motions, it couldn't have been any more obvious that he was imagining the layer beneath the jacket. Carting around an unmarked crate for pick up, Logan had broke the brunette's concentration when he cried out at the cockroach that scurried over the top of his hand.

"Guns, first-aid, rum, and more guns. Sounds about right." Especially after he had cleared out the remainder of the good stuff. Guilty of starting the bottle off and having a hand in the drought, Chloe was still convinced that he was attempting to drink away his denial about wanting to get the Gucci off the girl.

Knuckles pulling back as she propelled herself of the ledge, Daniella slid to her feet. Borrowed shoes ill-fitting as they were, it was a clean landing. Glad there had been things around to wear that weren't three sizes too big, she was still eager to find comfortable clothes that wouldn't be a hazard for the adventure that purportedly had a knack at finding the Drake brothers. Mad at herself for requesting certain personal items from Chloe before thinking to invite herself along, the heiress had to keep fixing the trousers. Bloating only adding fuel to the fire, truthfully it almost made her want to cry that her thighs threatened to burst the seams of the tan fabric. Done with tears and currently garbed in the one tank top Elena had donated to the cause that hadn't been devoured by the poor storage conditions, the one positive to take away was that at 5'9" she wasn't suffering vertically.

Loading bay door thrown wide to make the transitions smoother, the "back door" being open let in both a scrapping chill and the smell of the rain (in addition to the usual city scents). Torn between the new-found person she was trying to become and the old dullard that had been shaped from etiquette and loneliness, Daniella awkwardly lingered in place for a moment. Chloe was already on her way out the exit and heading for the three car garage (well, two, as the the third option was actually a motor bike), but the teen wasn't certain if she should just follow suit or if she should say goodbye first. Finding it silly and juvenile that she was so hung up on something so small and insignificant, with everything that happened with her mother she just wasn't sure about anything. Labeling it 'baby duck syndrome', the teen was hesitant to leave the last trace of familiarity behind for even a moment, however she was almost equally as reluctant to face Mr. Drake.

"Umm, bye...?" Faltering out into the conceptual darkness with a whimper and impaling herself on the hopes that she could make for a bad-ass pirate, the girl shook her head at her stupidity and bolted out after Chloe. While it was better than a curtsy, she could hardy believe that pitiful excuse of a wave. The least I could have done was put some feeling into it, not... whatever that was!

Paused in their tracks to watch the girl utterly fail at dipping out, the surfer shrugged it off as nothing, however his father gave her retreat more consideration and mused privately to himself if she had it in her mind that there was a reason to avoid him. Responsible for the teen for reasons he himself couldn't fully fathom, at first it hadn't struck him as anything out of place when she kept her check-ups short and to the point, due largely to the fact that he had no idea if she was much for speaking in the first place.

Dells didn't speak to the blonde more than anyone else did, although that could have been because she blamed him for her mother shunning her as some sort of scarlet woman. Chloe on the other hand... It had been slow going, yet once that ball got rolling the two women could carry on whole conversations. If a conversation was defined as the elder reminiscing to the younger as they shared a lukewarm bottle of whatever was handy. How long the camaraderie would last was anyone's guess, but he had to wonder just how much Frazer was influencing the girl...

Sky painted a layered ode to Rorschach that just came off rapper levels of pretentious, the pair were just relieved that the rain had temporarily ceased. Climbing into the battered old jeep like a sane person while the girl thought to test the full range of her capabilities and swung in from the side through the back, Chloe started the vehicle and turned the station to her preferred choice. At least Nate had good taste that she could get behind, but the elder brother? Not so much. Guest or no, the teen wasn't going to get a say in the radio today. If the raven had thought to consult her Magic 8-Ball and asked if the the heiress had the same shitty taste in music that Sam did, "all signs point to yes".

Truth be, after mustering up the courage to make her request, Chloe was somewhat taken aback that the girl wasn't opting to stay behind and watch the men work up a sweat. Story recapped while Sleeping Beauty was out of it, she understood the sore feelings Daniella held towards Logan, but the boy was shredded! Apart from being happily off the market, the surfer would have been a much more reasonable choice to lust after, although she knew as well as anyone that you just can't pick and chose whose going to get your engines revving. On the winning side of hindsight for a change, it was probably better that the heiress was coming along.

Quietly observing in disbelief as the teenager buckled up without prompt, a mischievous grin crept across her lush lips. "Something else on your list you forgot to ask about?" The kid was just asking for it. "Trust someone that knows, it would be better to leave the battery-operated friend at home."

Ears turning bright red, Daniella sputtered like the lead in any one of the tween-for-mom books that had been adapted for the big screen back when she was still in diapers. If it wasn't so funny it might have been sad that she had knocked her knees into the dash with a painful-sounding crack, "Wh-what-?! N-no! Why would I-?!"

Mark so easy that she may as well have been a Drake, Chloe smirked at the teen's unease and took the conversation in a slightly different direction. Okay, so it wasn't going to be different at all. Tickled pink by having a new friend to mercilessly torture, it couldn't have been clearer that Sam would certainly have his hands full trying to crack this nut, if just talking about that kind of thing bothered her so much. On a semi related note, Elena would probably get along with the heiress swimmingly. No, Chloe could actually picture them getting on quite well.

In spite of what items she had actually been asked to purchase, she teased the girl by finishing her sentence, "Why would you need to when you have what I've been led to believe is a completely adequate dance partner? You tell me love. I'm not the one trying to put some distance between myself and a decision I know I'll regret."

Daniella twisted around in her seat for a better look at Chloe. "Really, this conversation?"

Everyone always spoke about Sam like there was some horrible thing, yet she hadn't seen anything particularly bad about him. In fact she was willing to take that one step further and admit to herself that after everything that's gone down, she just felt safest around him. Ms. Frazer wasn't bad company by any means, however it was still too soon to make a call on how trustworthy the woman was.

Prior to overhearing the duo in the room, the teen most likely would have glommed on to Mr. Drake and spoke almost exclusively to him, but after hearing the notion that he could have been looking at her like that put out into the universe... It made her stomach flutter, yet she wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

It wasn't like she exactly had anyone in her life, but she thought she had been slowly building towards something with Jay. Much like the clusterfuck of this experience, that also hadn't panned out the way she'd hoped. Alumnus of the Ivy League, he was just too attractive and vocal about being too young to be pinned down; what he was less transparent about was how far he was willing to blur the line between mentor and pupil. As he constantly reminded her she was just a dumb kid that wasn't advanced enough to know what she wanted, that had an image to protect, even if she didn't want to.

Under the belief that the teen was smitten with the elder Drake brother, this seemed like the opportune moment to make good on her crack about the birds and the bees. Once a teenage girl struggling to find her way in the big scary world, she'd have liked nothing more than to tell the girl that the ex-con wasn't going to be one of those pricks, but that would have been dishonest. Nadine had really hit the nail on the head during their trek through the Western Ghats - they were all assholes. But to his credit, Sam was less of a dick than he let on and they loved him just the same. Even Nadine had started to come around to him at that time (keyword being started).

Willing to give them the benefit of the doubt when they claimed that nothing had happened just yet, mostly because it was so bloody obvious, Chloe had to wonder just how much experience the heiress actually had. Not just with guys, with life in general. "Why else would you keep avoiding Sam?"

Satisfactory answer in short supply, the heiress was becoming less enthralled with the woman's accent. Ten minutes ago, she would have pondered if she was more in love with the way Ms. Frazer spoke or the silky sound of her dulcet tone, however the topic was getting under her skin enough to deny that she quite enjoyed both. "I just needed some air." That wasn't a lie, as she had been cooped up in place or another since this whole thing started. "It would be nice to just get to enjoy the open, even if it is still overcast outside."

Because fresh air was going out of style.

Chloe was skeptical about that and had the hunch that the girl was just trying her damnedest to protect herself from getting hurt. She'd learned back when she had been younger even than the heiress that walling yourself off and playing it cool was a great defense, however she had no clue what could have happened in the pampered palace that housed the sheltered little flower. Perhaps it wasn't what had already happened but what was already in motion?

Frankly, she was proud of the girl for relying on herself, although she had to be careful - that was a slippery slope.

Linen scratching his finger tips as he picked up the discarded gauze to repurpose the spools of bandage left behind on the bed from where Chloe had tossed the remainder aside after helping the girl getting the dressings even, the brunette realized that she had the softer sheets. Even though they were on the crux of departing, he was still tempted to swap the blankets around... Ultimately deciding that that would have been a waste of time (next time he would just have to remember to select this cot), Sam threw the absorbent strips into the side pocket of the backpack being prepared for the teen. Winding them around his fist to get the wraps tight enough, he remembered as he packed to leave room for the personal items as well.

Glad that he had been given a brother and not a sister for just that reason, when Nathan and Elena had made the announcement of their baby's gender - thus forever crushing Sullivan's dreams of another Victor - Sam offered his sincerest apologies to his little brother. Staying by his little brother after all they had been through was all the proof he needed that Elena could handle anything, so he wasn't worried about her. But that little punk? Himself being the kind of guy that all fathers should fear, Cassie was the perfect karma.

Maybe it was that same lack of karma on the sibling that really deserved it that was the driving force behind his current behavior. Taking care of his brother for the first half of his life, the ex-con wasn't some heartless bastard that would just leave a kid out to die in the rain. Sam had looked out for Nathan, had taken one of the less assuming inmates under his wing in the first four years of his immuration (and had the scar to prove it), hell, he'd even done his friend a solid and tended to a failing wife. And that time had been without any implied winks. Perhaps he simply had a more nurturing side than the'd given himself credit for, although the one houseplant he'd been given had been the precedent for proving otherwise. Ordinarily he'd argue about human versus fauna life, yet with the girl he'd been left in charge of, it was rather difficult to see the difference at times.

Except it wasn't very often he came across daisies that wore lace.

Coming in to the communal bed area from putting back the gear they wouldn't be using on the trip, Logan just saw Sam crouching over the bed that the heiress had been using. What the blonde failed to grasp was that while Dani seemed to be recovering, the explorer was simply being thorough. "When I miss Chelsea when we're apart, I like to have her scent around too. It's easy to replace the smell of vanilla, but there's more to her that I just can't replicate." Thoughtful, he sighed at just how much he missed his wife. "When I first realized I loved her, I couldn't stand to be be out of her presence for more than an hour. You must really be into Dani if you're missing her after only fifteen minutes."

One, Dells had already made it known that she didn't much care to be called Dani, and two, did he even have to say what the second thing was? The tatted thief was getting so sick and tired of everyone just assuming that there was something between himself and the heiress, it was almost tempting to consider the possibility. To be fair, he supposed that it was one thing for an outsider to keep it up, but he had to get it from Chloe too, and not just in that 'we're friends, so its okay if I torment you' kind of way. If anyone should have understood that the girl was just a job to him, it should have been the ravenette.

He couldn't help it if the girl elicited pity out of him, no more than he could help how much she reminded him of Rafe. By action he wouldn't have guessed that there was a relation, but by looks she was a dead-ringer for her old man. Except for her eyes. Though they bore a strong resemblance to her father's in shape and color, that was the one place Bai's genetics became apparent. After almost twenty years of no second thoughts, it was hard to forget the animal hunger he'd seen in those eyes...

Daniella wasn't her parents. Reminding himself of that, Sam rose to as much of his height as the room would allow, passing the surfer without any further indication that he had heard him. Instead of indulge the lingerer, he moved over to Chloe's bed to search for any trinkets that the woman may have left behind. Assuming that anything should go missing, it was her own fault for rooming with scoundrel and not securing her personal stash.

Chloe pretty much the only one that paid him any heed, Logan was getting used to the cold shoulder. He didn't particularly enjoy being shunned like the guy that always came to the party and mooched without the intention of giving back, he was just becoming familiar with how the other guys on the circuit must have felt when he was on the rise. He wouldn't be stopped though. "Chelsea looks like she wants to punch me half the time too, but she knows that I'm right."

Plagued by insistent jabber that he just didn't want to hear, if it wasn't some comment about the relationship he imagined was between the ex-con and the heiress, the blonde was always on about his noticeably absent spouse. Scoring nothing from his fellow veteran, Drake turned around to face Logan. "If she's so perfect, why aren't you with your wife now?"

"Because I wanted to find my father." Logan knew then that his time had come. He'd been trying to be civil about it and only broached the topic when it seemed like Sam could spare a moment, but somehow if it wasn't the older man dealing with catering to the dead rich dude's daughter, he was just miles away. Chelsea would frequently get annoyed that he too would vanish into his own mind, but she understood the man she had married, and she knew that it was because he was wondering about the life he never had. "She knew it was important to me, and we both agreed that we wanted the whole family there when she delivered the baby."

Ah, now it all made sense from Logan's perspective. What insight about raising a child he hoped to glean was a mystery to Sam, when he himself had only just learned that he was potentially someone's father. Despite the evidence smacking him in the face, Drake just wasn't going to admit his role, not while he was sober.