"Dr. Ricci will be happy to add this to the museum collection of Roman gods," Sydney said as she and Nigel left the temple of Tempestas, carrying an ancient idol. They had found it in a hidden chamber in a temple just outside of Rome.

"She should be." Nigel carefully stepped around a tree root as he followed Sydney. "There aren't many relics of the storm goddess."

The two of them began the hike back to the city as the sun filtered through the trees, and a breeze exhibited an exercise in futility as it tried to combat the humidity of the day.

"Stop right there," came a voice from behind them. Sydney and Nigel spun to see Rick Genderson pointing a gun at them. The man who had ambushed them in their hotel room the day before looking for the meaning of the text Sydney and Nigel had in their possession. He hadn't been able to steal the manuscript but it seemed as though he'd been able to follow them. "Hand it over."

Sydney didn't move, while Nigel put his hands in the air.

"I said, hand it over," Genderson repeated. Sydney stepped forward. "Slowly."

Sydney watched Genderson as she reached into her satchel and took out the idol. The moment it was in view, Genderson looked at it instead of paying attention to her and Sydney took advantage, kicking out at the gun in his outstretched hand; the gun went flying. She tossed the idol to Nigel, who caught it.

Sydney blocked a swing from Genderson and retaliated with her, landing the punch to his stomach. She blocked two more and connected a right hook to his face. Genderson recovered and kicked back catching Sydney in the abdomen, knocking her back into Nigel who dropped the idol as the two of them tumbled backwards together. Genderson used that to his advantage, picked up the idol and ran. Untangling herself from Nigel, Sydney took off after him, not noticing the sudden cloud coverage. Nigel gave chase as well, grumbling as rain began to fall.

Wind and rain whipped at her face as Sydney chased after Genderson. She struggled against the wind, every step taking an enormous amount of effort. Ahead she could just make out the shape of Genderson even though he couldn't have been more than 20 feet in front of her, the rain obscuring her vision as it fell.

The rain hurt as it came into contact with her body, and stung her eyes as she attempted to keep them open. She didn't think she'd ever been caught in such a gale. Sydney blinked hard and realized she had lost track of Genderson both due to the rain and the cloud covered sky – darkness had descended quickly in the sudden storm. Lightning flashed overhead, lighting up the area around her, followed closely by the booming sound of thunder. With the sun went the warmth, and she found herself shivering slightly.

Meanwhile, Nigel had lost sight of Sydney and Genderson and was struggling with the backpack on his back. The rain had soaked the bag despite it being waterproof and it weighed him down as he fought to keep up. As the rain came down even harder, inhibiting his vision, and the wind bit at his exposed skin he had to admit defeat and stopped to take stock of his situation, wishing he had worn a sweater and knowing that was a silly thought in summer in Italy. The rain came down in torrents, lightning the only thing letting him see while also being a complete danger to him while he was in the forest. Thunder clapped immediately after the lightning so he knew he was in the eye of the storm. The wind had the rain pelting at his face it felt, no matter which way he turned, and was also throwing branches and leaves through the air. The very trees around him were swaying. He pulled his flashlight out of the bag and used what little light it gave off to just walk, looking for any kind of shelter, and hoping he'd run into Sydney somehow.

Sydney pulled her flashlight out of her satchel, thankful that she hadn't taken it off in the fight or to chase after Genderson. She shone it around, not that it did much good in the heavy rain. Sydney began to walk in the direction she assumed Genderson had gone in, stepping carefully as she was unable to see well. All she knew was that she had to get out from under the trees and that she needed to find shelter from the rain and wind, and the resulting debris. She wondered where Nigel had ended up and if he had found shelter.

Her flashlight shone vainly in the darkness, the lightning the only thing that really broke through. Still, she continued walking, looking for shelter and growing desperate. There was no time between the lightning and thunder, indicating that she was in the centre of the storm. Every step she took was exhausting and she could feel her strength draining as she continued. In the darkness and the rain she wasn't sure she was walking in the same direction she had been going in or if she had somehow turned in a circle.

She turned and ran into something solid preceded by some kind of dim light of its own. She reached out to grab at the thing in front of her automatically to stop herself from falling backwards, and it did the same. A flash of lightning illuminated the forest and she caught sight of a familiar pale face, and brown hair. Nigel exhaled in relief at having run into Sydney.

"Nigel!" she shouted over the storm, "We have to find shelter!" She had no idea if he could hear her. He saw her lips move but couldn't hear her voice over the wind and rain. When she began walking though, Nigel moved with her, trusting that she had some kind of plan. Together they tried to light the way with their flashlights, finding the two of them were slightly better than just one but not by much. The lightning itself proving much more useful.

Nigel looked around as he followed Sydney through the forest and saw a shape that looked darker than the surrounding foliage. He reached out and tugged on her arm and she turned to look. He pulled her in the direction of the darkness and she followed, seeing what Nigel had seen after a few steps – it looked like a black wall, but when the lightning lit up the sky they could see that it was a rocky overhang and would provide some shelter at least.

There was instant relief as they walked under the overhang. It wasn't a large space, but they were able to walk a few feet into the cliff face, which provided them with a sort of wall, which softened the wind. She looked at Nigel who dropped the backpack he was carrying on the ground with a sigh and stretched. He was absolutely drenched, hair plastered to his head, clothes sticking to him. His face was red from the harsh rain and wind – she was relieved to have run into him even if it was literally. Sydney had strands of hair stuck to her face, and her clothes stuck to her body, leaving very little to the imagination. As cold as he was now that they were standing still, he could feel warmth in his cheeks.

"It's really chucking it down," Nigel said to distract himself, moving to stand beside her.

"It's a good thing we found this cave," Sydney said as a flash of lightning crossed the sky followed by the roll of thunder. "We'll wait until it dies down, there's no way we're going to get anywhere in this."

"I guess you didn't catch up to Genderson?"

"No," Sydney scowled, "I couldn't see him through the rain."

"Do you think this has anything to do with the idol of Tempestas we found?" Nigel asked after a moment. "After all, she's the goddess of storms and sudden weather."

Sydney hummed noncommittally. After the things they had seen over the years they couldn't dismiss the idea. "I guess it's possible." She didn't relish the idea. If it was the case, then once she got the idol back from Genderson she'd have to return it to the temple.

It was a few hours of watching the storm from the safety of the overhang – about five since leaving the temple to begin with, it was definitely nighttime – when Sydney suddenly grabbed Nigel's arm, the two of them sitting side-by-side. "Did you see that?"

Nigel frowned. "No."

They stood up and watched for movement through the storm. A shape emerged from the forest and became clearer as it got closer. Genderson stumbled under the overhang with them, and Sydney immediately grabbed him by the lapels and shoved him against the cliff face.

He struggled against her but to no avail. He looked as though he'd been in the harsh weather the whole time. Genderson was drenched, his skin was red from the elements, and his hands were shaking from the cold.

"Where the hell is it?" she demanded. His teeth chattered and he didn't answer. Sydney began to pat him down, looking for the idol.

"I – I – I dropped it," he said. Sydney turned away from him angrily.

"Dropped it where?" Nigel asked.

"When I saw th-th-this place." He looked between them. "Please let me stay here. It's horrible out there."

Nigel looked at Sydney who had her arms crossed over her chest. He groaned at the look on her face.

"I'll get the backpack," he said resigned.

"The idol could be ruined in this weather," Sydney said to him as quietly as she could. Nigel could see her point, but still wasn't looking forward to going back into the storm.

"You can't go out there, it's crazy!" Genderson gaped at them. Sydney just glared at him and picked up her satchel from where she had placed it on the ground.

"We wouldn't have to if you hadn't stolen it in the first place," Nigel argued, shrugging on the backpack after taking out his flashlight. The one thing he knew was that he wasn't going to separate from Sydney in this weather. It was hard to tell if it had gotten worse from their shelter. It was impossibly dark save for the lightning that flashed across the sky but the sound of the rain hadn't lessened at all.

"Let's go," Sydney said as she pulled out her own flashlight.

Together they stepped out from the overhang and were immediately buffeted by the wind; it seemed to be pushing them back into the shelter. They fought their way forwards in the direction Genderson had come from, bent down to made headway and close enough they could reach out and touch the other person. The rain pelted at them, stinging their faces and forcing them to blink rapidly as water, wind, leaves, and twigs blinded them. There was no way they'd be able to hear each other if they needed to call out.

Every flash of lightning was a way for them to see the ground and they kept their eyes focused there as much as possible as they scanned for the idol. Suddenly Sydney thought she saw something and reached out to touch Nigel's arm. He looked up at her but her attention was on the ground to their right, and she took a couple of steps before crouching down and brushing away wet leaves, her flashlight pointed at the spot. He trained his flashlight on her hand to help her out as he crouched beside her. When she uncovered the idol and took hold of it they looked at each other, grinning at their success.

As suddenly as it had started, the rain ceased and the wind softened. The sun had set but the warmth returned and the sky cleared, revealing the stars.

"Erm," Nigel looked around, "did what I think happen, just happen?"

Sydney raised her eyebrows. "I guess you were kind of right Nigel. Seems as though Tempestas wants the idol to be honoured, not sold to the highest bidder."

They grinned at each other.