So I received a comment complaining that Alex was just another damsel in distress so I decided to rewrite this chapter in the hopes it would better fit with Alex's personality. The actual comment was made on the previous chapter in response to I'm assuming the part where Alex and Elena are caught by Roman. In my defense, I wrote it like that because I needed Alex and Elena to talk and that was the best place I could think of to put it. Please let me know what you guys think, but be nice. I wrote this because I thought it would be fun and that other people would enjoy it. I did not write it so other people could tell me how to write my own stories. Anyways, I hope this is better and please enjoy!
Elena and I were dragged through the city and down below to a huge treasure room, our hands now tied behind our backs. I stared wide eyed at the giant gold statue standing in the middle. El Dorado. It was even creepier in person, the fanged face making me uneasy. Roman approached the statue and Navarro stopped beside it, still gripping tightly to my arm. Movement to my left caught my eye and I turned to see Nate and Sully entered the treasure room. Unfortunately, before they could do anything, two mercenaries snuck up behind them.
"You two should realise by now that I plan for every contingency," Roman chuckled, turning around. "Now, drop your weapons. Down there." He pointed to a puddle of water below them. "No heroics, please. Or I will kill them." Navarro held his gun to the side of my head as emphasis. I struggled slightly and Navarro tightened his grip, causing me to wince slightly. Nate and Sully reluctantly tossed their weapons to the ground. "Good. Now, if you'll just hang tight, we'll be with you in a moment." Roman turned his attention back to El Dorado, examining it with barely contained awe. "It's magnificent. The craftsmanship, I've never seen anything like it before.
"That is only a shell," Navarro told him. "The real treasure of El Dorado lies inside." He laughed gleefully as Roman gave him a curious look. "Open it." The way Navarro said this made me very nervous. Roman didn't seem to notice and pried the statue open. Inside was a rotting corpse. I drew back slightly in disgust.
"My God…" I heard Nate whisper. Dust billowed from the corpse's mouth, causing Roman to cough.
"Watch this," Navarro whispered to me, watching the scene before us with glee. I was so focused on what was going on in front of me, I forgot to be disgusted by his close proximity. Still coughing, Roman closed the statue and collapsed to his knees, gasping for breath.
"Navarro…" Roman growled, but it didn't sound remotely human. Roman turned and snarled. I instinctively took a step back in surprise, muttering an Italian curse. Roman's eyes had turned black and blood and saliva was dripping from his nose and mouth. He stood and staggered toward Navarro and I. Navarro merely shot him in the face.
"Adios, jefe. So little imagination," Navarro laughed. "Bajen la red!" His mercenaries repeated the order and a net fell down over the statue through a hole in the ceiling.
"Navarro, that thing wiped out an entire colony. You don't know what you're doing," Nate warned.
"Wrong. I'm the only person on this island who know what the hell he's doing!" Navarro corrected. "Cargue la estatua. Cuidado." Two mercenaries started moving the statue. "You are so pathetic, all of you scrambling around for your petty treasures. Do you have any idea what this is worth, to the right buyer? Levantenlo!" The order was repeated and a helicopter lifted the statue out of the room. I glanced around nervously and Navarro swung his gun around as snarling filled the room. Dozens of Gollums crawled into the room, attacking the mercenaries. Navarro backed away and dragged me from the room, up the stairs to the helicopter, settling me in the back. As we flew towards a ship, Navarro held his radio to his ear then quickly looked out the window. I looked out the window and spotted Nate hanging onto the statue. The mercenary next to me cocked his gun and leaned out the door, firing at Nate.
"Ehi, lurido porco! (hey, filthy pig)" I called, catching the mercenary's attention. I slammed my feet into his face, pushing him out of the copter. A few stray bullets hit the copter, killing the pilot. The copter pitched downward and Navarro pushed the pilot out of the way to take control, piloting us towards the ship. The copter crash landed on the ship and everything went black.
Third Person POV
Nate's heart stopped when he saw the copter crash onto the deck of the ship.
"Alex!" He whispered to himself. He hoped that she was all right. He spotted Navarro on the other side of the ship, looking a little worse for wear as he pulled himself from the wreckage. If Navarro survived, then there was hope for Alex.
"Matenlo! Kill him!" Navarro shouted at his men. Nate dove for cover behind some crates as Navarro and his men shot at him. The only thing on Nate's mind as he took out Navarro's mercenaries was Alex. He had to make sure she was okay. After all they'd been through, he couldn't bear to lose her. Navarro ran back towards the helicopter crash and Nate followed. He stopped at the top of the ramp, noticing Alex lying unconscious in the wreck, at least he hoped she was just unconscious.
"Alex!" Nate ran forward, but was blasted back when Navarro blew up a nearby barrel. He landed hard, his gun flying out of his hand and over the side of the ship. "Oh crap - now what?" He took cover behind some crates and worked his way closer to Navarro. Finally seeing an opportunity, Nate darted from cover and was just about to deck Navarro when there was a loud clang and Navarro went stiff before collapsing to the ground. Nate stared at the unconscious Peruvian in surprise for a moment before switching his gaze to the source of the headache Navarro was going to wake up with. Alex stood right behind where Navarro had just been, blood trickling down the side of her face from a cut above her eye, still holding aloft a broken piece of the helicopter she had used to clobber him. "Alex - what - ?" Nate was so stunned he was having trouble getting his sentences to form correctly. Alex lowered her weapon to her shoulder and placed a hand on her hip.
"What took you so long?" She asked, her tone sounding as if she were cross, but the smirk playing at her lips said otherwise. Nate moved forward, stepping over the still unconscious Navarro.
"Are you okay?" He fretted, his hands hovering over her as if he wasn't sure where to put them without fear of hurting her. Alex waved him off with a half smile.
"I'm fine, Nate," she assured him. "Bit banged up, but that's par for our course." He was about to reply when movement behind him caught her attention. "Duck!" She tackled Nate to the ground as bullets perforated the metal of the helicopter right where they had been standing. Navarro was back on his feet, shotgun in hand. Alex quickly picked herself up, grabbing her makeshift weapon as she charged at the Peruvian. Navarro dodged her first swing and blocked her second with his gun, shoving her back. Alex stumbled a few paces and Navarro took the opportunity to bash her in the chest with the butt of his gun. Alex gasped for breath as the air was knocked out of her. Navarro leveled his gun at her, but grunted as Nate barreled into him. The two men struggled on the ground, kicking and punching in an attempt to get the upper hand. Navarro sent an uppercut to Nate's jaw, sending the treasure hunter sprawling. Before Nate could recover, a shotgun was pointed at his face.
"Say goodbye, Drake," Navarro grinned, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. He cocked the gun, but before he could pull the trigger, another voice called out.
"Hey, stronzo! (asshole)" Navarro looked up to see Alex standing by the helicopter. She shoved her shoulder into the metal frame once, twice, three times, sending the crash toppling over the edge of the ship and into the water below. "Say hello to Davy Jones for me." Navarro frowned in confusion until he glanced down and realized he was standing in the rope that was still attached to the wrecked helicopter. Before he could react, the rope tightened around his ankle and dragged him across the ship and overboard, taking El Dorado with him.
Alex POV
I stood for a moment as I watched the statue disappear below the waves. Taking a deep breath, I turned back around to Nate, who was picking himself up and rubbing his jaw.
"You okay?" I asked.
Nate chuckled. "I should be the one asking you. You were the one who crashed the helicopter." I shrugged nonchalantly, but winced lightly as I pulled a sore muscle.
"Nothing that won't heal. Probably have a couple more scars to add to my growing collection." Nate and I turned to look out at the ocean once more, spotting a small boat headed our way, Sully and Elena safely on board. We waved and I breathed a sigh of relief. "Quite a day," I remarked, leaning against the railing and shifting weight off my injured leg which had begun to ache as the adrenaline slowly worked its way out of my system.
"Yeah - yeah, save the world, triumph over evil - par for our course," Nate replied.
I laughed lightly. "We should start charging for our services."
Nate chuckled. "It's a shame we're leaving empty handed, though."
"Well, we may not have found any treasure, but I did manage to save one small thing." I pulled out Francis Drake's ring from my pocket. "I thought you might miss this." I hung the ring back around his neck, running my finger over the metal band.
"Thanks," Nate said. He gazed down at me softly, lifting a hand to stroke my cheek and I found myself blushing as I stared into his baby blue eyes. "I thought I lost you when I saw the copter crash," he admitted quietly.
I smiled lightly. "Can't get rid of me that easily." A look came into his eyes that I couldn't place. He started to lean down and my heart skipped a beat. Was - was he going to kiss me?
"You two got a funny idea of romantic," Sully interrupted, causing Nate to straighten with a sigh. I huffed lightly, one corner of my lips lifting in a smile as I turned to our cigar smoking friend.
"Sully! Elena! Wow. You - you look like hell," Nate said, his arm slipping around my waist.
"You should see the other guys," Sully replied, resting his shotgun on his shoulder.
"We got a boat," Elena announced.
"Hate to break it to ya, but we already have a boat," I said, gesturing to the huge boat Nate and I stood on.
"Yeah. Big boat," Nate added.
Sully chuckled. "I like this one better." He pulled away a tarp from a pile, revealing several crates of gold and treasure. Elena and Sully laughed as Nate and I gasped.
"Sully, you beautiful sonofabitch!" Nate called gleefully.
"Borrowed it off a couple of pirates who were too dead to care."
"I changed my mind, I like that boat better," I decided, causing the other three to laugh.
Later, the four of us sat on the boat, Sully driving of course. Elena was up with Sully as he relayed some of his own adventures, including some from shortly after Nate and I met him. Nate was standing at the end of the boat while I was sitting on the treasure, resting my newly patched leg. With a little difficulty, I got to my feet and limped over to Nate.
"How's your leg doing?" Nate inquired.
"Sore, but otherwise okay," I answered. "Nothing I can't handle."
Nate smiled fondly. "Not enough to stop you, is it?"
"Course not. I'll be ready for the next adventure life decided to throw at us," I assured him. Nate glanced down at me and slipped an arm around my waist, drawing me close. As we watched the sunset together, I thought that maybe, just maybe I might have a chance.
I'm still working on the Among Thieves. I'm really trying to make it as good as possible, but as always I'm going through writing spurts. Just to give youg guys an idea of where I am, I've reached the part where Nate, Alex, and Chloe are looking for the temple.