Yay, another 'in the past' chapter...and this chapter is the reason why I changed Rachel and Locke's ages...lol. In all honesty, I almost changed their ages again...but I guess it works out. Okay, I'm going to get back to watching a shirtless David Boreanaz! (Yay! I'm watching old episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer...I haven't watched this show in years...but I still know all the words to the third season!) P.S. Sorry this chapter is rather lengthy...

12. Coming Clean

"And where do you think you're going?" Locke whipped around to see Xane standing in his doorway, watching Locke's every move in disgust. Locke was tying his new bandana around his head as the final touch to his look, and rolled his eyes when Xane leaned against the doorframe.

He reached over to grab his coat and exhaled at the older man's presence. "What do you want, Xane?"

"Are you going back to the VanLente's?" He asked, causing Locke nodded. With a smug smile, he crossed his arms and leaned against the doorframe. "Ah, I see. Are you trying to redeem your good status with Vaughn and get the diamond all by yourself without taking me?"

Locke pursed his lips when he remembered how disappointed Vaughn was at the two of them when they returned the previous night without the diamond. He had never seen anyone change from happy to completely livid in the matter of three seconds like Vaughn did when he saw them come back empty handed. His face turned a dark maroon color before he went into his office and slammed his door.

"I'm not going back for the diamond," Locke clarified as he put his coat on over his shirt. "I'm going to go straighten things out with Rachel."

Xane's eyes went wide and he slammed the palm of his hand against the doorframe, causing the wall to shake a tiny bit. "That's even worse! You are such a dumbass! Are you aware of what Vaughn would do if he found out that you were courting Rachel VanLente?"

"I never said I was courting her, I just said that I wanted to straighten things out with her," Locke explained with a shrug. "Besides, Vaughn doesn't need to know about this. I'm not going to tell him, so that means that you should keep your mouth shut as well."

"What would I even say to him anyway?" Xane asked as Locke buttoned up his coat. "I won't say anything, but you're not thinking clearly."

With another shrug, Locke walked toward Xane to exit the room. "Yeah, I know I'm not. This is just eating up at me though and I can't leave it the way it is."

"Well, I suggest you get over it," Xane said, almost as a warning. Instead of answering, Locke walked past him and started toward the exit of the hideout. "Oh, by the way, while you're out, you might want to buy a new shovel as well," he told him with a sarcastic laugh. "You're going to need one to dig your own grave out back."

"Very funny," Locke said without the slightest trace of amusement in his voice. He didn't even bother breaking his stride or looking back. "I just need to run over there and then I'll come right back. If you must know, I won't be gone long."

"And you think I care because…?" Xane asked, raising his eyebrows. "Go ahead, I'm not going to try to stop you. I'm just thinking that you're doing something really stupid."

Once again, Locke didn't look over his shoulder when he shouted back, "Then that's my own fault, isn't it?" Without an answer from Xane, Locke grabbed the warp stone that was in his pocket, held it up in front of him, and warped to the outside.

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When Locke arrived at the VanLente mansion, there was an odd feeling in the air. He slowed down his pace and changed his confident stride to one of caution. The church bell rang in town, signaling that it was midnight; the time that Rachel told Locke to meet her in the garden. He let out a chuckle and muttered, "How cliché, Locke." However, there were many guards on post surrounding the mansion and he wasn't sure how he was going to sneak in unnoticed.

Well, standing around twenty feet away doesn't look conspicuous…He thought as he continued to walk right up to the closest path. Maybe they'll just let me pass. In any case, they better get used to me…

"Halt!" Locke stopped with a sigh when he heard the nearest guard's voice ring through the sky, disturbing the stillness in the air. He looked down at his feet to see that the toe of his boot had barely touched the cobblestone path.

Without shifting his stance, he turned his head to see the soldier with his gun aimed for him. Making a slight clicking sound with his tongue, he shook his head and chuckled. "You don't want to shoot me."

"No, sir, I don't want to, but orders are orders. Especially tonight," the guard stated, causing Locke to blink at the context of his statement.

"What makes tonight so different than other nights?" He questioned as the guard shook his head, motioning that he wasn't going to give a direct answer. "Sorry, I have a horrible tendency to pry. I was born with overcurious genes or something. Blame my parents. However, since I did ask, I would like to know."

"Not likely," the guard replied with a laugh. "Now get out of here."

Locke took a few steps forward and with a shrewd smile said, "Make me."

"Wait!" Locke and the guard both turned their attention to the female voice that was heard from the path. It was Rachel with a shawl wrapped around her shoulders to shield out the chilly night air.

"Good evening, Miss VanLente." The guard saluted as he brought down his weapon. "It's rather late. You know you shouldn't be out in the gardens on a night like this—"

"There's no need to patronize me," she stated firmly, holding her hand up to stop him. "Let this man pass through."

"Begging your pardon, miss, but your father laid strict rules regarding you staying in your chambers tonight and also," he sent a glare to Locke, "that no one may enter the vicinity of the mansion."

With a sigh, Rachel put her arm through Locke's and started to guide him away from the guard. "If my father questions, just tell him that if he still wants a daughter in the morning he will abide my decision to bring this man in the 'vicinity of the mansion.'"

Locke looked back at the guard to see him hesitantly nod, then regain his guarding posture. Rachel kept her gaze straight ahead, an icy appearance to her eyes. "Are you okay?" He asked her as she nodded.

"I'm fine," she responded, guiding him past the gardens and closer to the house. "I just don't appreciate how my father laid all these ground rules for tonight."

He was about to comment on her statement, but she led him up the steps to the back entrance of the mansion, throwing him off guard. "Uh…Where are we going?"

"I'm taking you inside." Her response was short, almost sharp. Locke thought that was going to be the only thing she was going to say, but she continued with, "I don't think we should be outside tonight. It's not safe for either of us."

"What's going on?" She placed her finger over his lips to silence him as she quietly turned the handle on the door that they reached. After poking her head out, she realized that no one was in the room, so she opened the door all the way.

Without another word, she led him up to her bedchambers, shut the door, and locked it, leaving Locke bewildered. She let out a lengthy exhale as she put her back to the door and looked up at him. "I apologize for all of that. It's usually not this crazy around here, but my father's just a little worried."

"Don't worry about it," he told her, although he was quite worried himself. "I just want to know what's going on. I don't think I've ever seen that many guards around this place."

"It's because, like I said, my father is terrified and I guess he has a right to be. I mean, you never know who you can and can't trust." By the sound of her voice, it was evident that she was just as scared as she made her father out to be. Although Locke blinked in confusion, he walked up to her and trailed his finger down the side of her pale cheek.

"Do you want to tell me what happened? Like I told you last night, I'm here to listen if you ever want to vent." She turned her head away from him as tears started to form in her eyes. She blinked and looked up to prevent them from falling, but a single tear streamed down her face anyway. Locke leaned in and kissed the tear away, causing Rachel to wrap her arms around him.

"Oh, Locke," she exhaled as she looked up at him. "Sometimes I just don't understand what motivates some people to do the things they do. They lie, they hide things, and then they act as if nothing is wrong or different when, in fact, it hurts more people than they realize."

Locke froze as she spoke, realizing that lying was exactly what he was doing to her. Not to mention it was exactly what he wanted to clarify with her. "What, um, brought all of this up?"

"Sometime between last night and this morning, someone snuck into the vault in the basement, poisoned all the guards, and attempted to steal the Clemix Diamond, along with most of the riches down there." Locke sighed as he looked at the broken look on Rachel's face.

"Well, you said 'attempted' so I'm guessing that they didn't end up taking it off property?" Locke questioned as Rachel nodded. He forced himself into a smile to calm her down and try to cheer her up. "Well then, that's not too bad. You'll be okay."

"No, you just don't understand," she stated as she wiped away a few tears that were teasing to fall. Locke's smile faded as she shook her head. "Not only was that my only birthday present, but it possesses something. I'm not sure what it 'possesses' but my father is really shook up about it. The thieves were stopped before they were able to take it, but they managed to escape."

"But you still have the diamond," Locke said, trying to stay upbeat. Unfortunately, her mood didn't change, so he smiled again. "You're still here, too. At least you and your father weren't harmed."

"Indirectly we were," she began to explain with a shrug. "Now we know that we're a target for whoever tried to take the diamond. The officials suggested that it would be wise if my father and I sold the house and relocated ourselves to a discreet location."

"You mean, they want you to hide?" He asked as she nodded once again. "Well, if it assures your safety, then I have to agree with them. I don't want anything to happen to you."

The tears started to flow down her face as she buried her head in Locke's vest and sobbed. He placed his head on hers as he ran his fingers along her back, trying to console her the best he could. Who tried to steal it? He thought as he kissed her temple. For the first time in my life I'm glad that I had an unsuccessful hunt….

"So I guess that moving is the general idea of it," she continued, sniffing between every word. "We're not sure where or when yet, but we figure we have to lay low for a little while. The police basically told us that the thief might have used this as a personal attack on our family and might start with my father or I next."

"I agree and say that it's personal knowing that they tried to take your family's own personal diamond," Locke said as she broke free from his embrace and starting to pace her bedroom. He watched her go back and forth a few times then walked over to her and put his hand on her shoulder. "Are you going to be okay?"

"I don't know. I mean, I just can't believe this is happening," she replied and walked over to her bed to sit down on the satin comforter. She trailed her fingers along the material as she continued to speak. "Why would someone do this? I don't want to move. I…I've lived here my whole life."

Locke felt helpless as she fixed her gaze on him, waiting for him to say something consoling or comforting. Unfortunately, the only thing that he was thinking of was how heartbroken she was going to be when she found out the truth of who he really was. I'm sure that's all she wants right now…

"Locke?" He whipped his head over at her and she gestured him to sit down next to her. "Stay with me tonight. Please."

"Rachel," he started as he walked over and knelt down in front of her. Taking her hands in his, he watched the tears gently fall down her face and land on the front of her dress. "You don't even know me. Why are you trusting me this much?"

"Because I don't feel alone when I'm with you." Locke wasn't sure how to respond, so he stood up and placed her hands back on her lap. "What's wrong?"

"Rachel, you don't even know who I am," he said with a sigh and started to walk toward her window. He heard her stand up and walk a few steps closer to him, but he didn't turn around to look at her. "Yesterday night, you were telling me about your mother and your father, and I listened. I let you vent about everything that was bothering you and troubling you, and I only sat there and listened. I didn't even start to tell you about my childhood or what has happened to my parents. I know all about you, but you don't know anything about me."

"No, I don't, but to be honest, it doesn't even matter to me," she replied, stopping when she was several feet away from him. He let the thin fabric from the curtains run through his fingers and looked at the stars that were in the sky. "I don't know anything about you; your past, what your childhood was like, what you do for a living, or other details that made you who you are."

"You're not the tiniest bit curious?" He asked as she shook her head. A chuckle escaped his lips and she shot him an offensive look.

"What's so funny?'

"You're a girl, you're supposed to be curious about this kind of stuff," he said, offending her even more.

"Okay, maybe I am slightly curious about you, but that's only natural," she admitted as she watched him lightly finger the fabric. "I want to know everything about you. Well, that is, if you'll tell me everything about yourself. If you want to keep secrets, that's fine with me because I respect your privacy. However, if you want to tell me, I'm not stopping you. Basically what I'm trying to say is that even though I don't know anything about you, I felt something when I first met you yesterday. Something that I've never felt before."

He looked at her out of the corner of his eye, intrigued by her statement. "What do you mean?"

"Security," she stated simply as she started to walk closer to where he was standing. "Not to mention that you were a lot like me."

"How so?" He asked her as she softly smiled.

"There were thousands of people there last night, and you decided to get away from it all and look at the beauty of the decorations." Locke scoffed at her explanation.

"I didn't want to deal with anyone, that's all." His tone was defensive as he spoke, but he didn't want to give in. I was away from everyone else so I could think of a plan to steal the diamond…He thought as he gently shook his head. "Staying by the decorations was a way that I could stay out of sight."

"Just like me," she continued, her heels gently clicking against the floor as she advanced toward Locke. "I knew that party was for me, and I wanted to be anywhere but there. I saw you and I could tell that you were thinking the same thing. You were there for duty, not fun."

"You have no idea how correct that statement is," he said with an ironic chuckle.

Ignoring the sarcasm in his voice, her smile grew wider. "I just knew that we had some things in common, so I had to go up to you."

"You didn't even know me." He concentrated back on the material in his hand again, trying to keep his eyes off of her. Although her complexion was paler than usual from the current events happening in her life, she was still stunningly beautiful. "For all you knew, I could've been a murderer. I could be one of those guys who goes around and preys on innocent young girls for the hell of it. You could've been next on my list."

"I have an excellent judge of character and I knew that you weren't a murderer. I'll admit, your looks drew me to you first, but then you looked into my eyes…" She trailed off and gently put her hand on his arm to try to get him to look at her. He exhaled and looked in the opposite direction, pretending to be distracted by the wind blowing through the trees outside the window. "I feel safe around you. Like you'd never do anything to hurt me."

Guilt struck Locke's heart as he let the curtain drop back down, the lacy bottom barely touching the wooden floor. He still didn't look at her; he crossed his arms and faced the window. "I'd never try to hurt you, but I can't make promises. I only break the promises that I've made."

"But you promised me that you would take me out on a hunt with you to get me away from this life that I'm living," she argued playfully as she took another step toward him. "Was that just…a lie?"

"Well, no, but, Rachel, come on." He whipped around as he spoke and saw the coy smile fall off of her face. "Like I said, you don't know who I am."

"Set it straight for me then! Tell me the truth, Locke." She walked up to him and gently brushed his hair out of his face. He pursed his lips as she touched him, and didn't respond when she planted a kiss on them. "If that's even your real name."

"My name is Locke Cole," he began as he looked away from her and put his hands on the windowsill. "I'm not a nobleman, I'm not a member of a royal court, I'm just me. Kain Atherton doesn't even exist; I made up the name as an alias."

"So lied you about your name, so what?" She stated as her smile crept across her lips again. "That's not that big of a deal. You did say you wanted the 'man of mystery' image, so that just adds onto that. You're forgiven."

She propped herself up on her toes and leaned in closer to kiss him, but he turned his head to the side so she couldn't make contact with his lips. "If I said that was the biggest secret about myself I would be lying."

"Oh?" She questioned as she raised an eyebrow at him. The grim look on his face made her more concerned and she went flat on her feet again. "Go on."

Just tell her, Locke. That's what you came here to do…He thought as he bit at his lower lip in nervousness. With a sigh, he continued. "You said you didn't know what I did for a living, so here's the truth; I'm part of a treasure hunting corporation called Quantz. I'm sure you've heard rumors about them but now I'm telling you that all the rumors are true. My partner Xane and I were at the party last night to take the diamond."

No sound came from her mouth as her jaw dropped and her hand slowly rose to her chest in shock. Locke shook his head in disbelief that he just blurted out the truth to her, but he knew it would've eaten him alive if he didn't let her know. With a quick exhale, she backed up until the back of her legs hit her bed, and she sat down so she wouldn't pass out. "All those guards…"

"No no, Rachel, listen to me," he said quickly as he rushed over to her. "Xane and I didn't get close to the diamond or kill all those guards. We left, remember? We left so we wouldn't have gotten caught, and the more I think about it, the happier I am that we did leave. If I'm not mistaken, the diamond was still in the case when the party was over, correct?"

She lowered her hand to her lap and slowly nodded. "Yes, it was. So you're telling the truth?"

"Yes, this is the honest to goddesses truth and I feel terrible that I lied to you in the first place. That's why I told you my real first name last night because I felt guilty that I was lying. I promise never to lie to you again," he swore as he half attempted a smile.

"I thought you said that you couldn't keep promises." Her face remained inanimate, so his smile faded.

Instead of explaining himself, he shifted his weight on his feet and pointed toward the door. "Well, I just wanted to tell you the truth, and I did, so I guess my job is done here. I'm, um, going to go."

She didn't respond or protest, so he sighed and headed toward the door. "Wait, please," she cried out, making Locke's heart skip a beat. "I don't take back what I said."

"What was that?"

"The fact that I feel safe when I'm with you," she explained as she stood up and walked over to him.

"How?" He asked her, unable to find a logical reasoning to why she would still trust him. "I just told you that I was here to steal the diamond and you're still talking to me? How can you feel safe around me?"

"It's just a feeling," she admitted as she placed her hand on his cheek and ran her hand through his hair. "I look in your eyes and I know you actually see me."

"I see a beautiful girl dying for a life where she does more than walk through the motions," he said softly, bringing his own hand up and brushing her cheek. "And I feel terrible for lying to you."

She placed her finger on his lips and smiled at him. "Enough with that. It happened but you told me the truth to clear things up. I respect you for that." He attempted a smile and she rested her head on his chest. "Will you please stay with me tonight? I don't want to feel alone."

"Of course I will," he replied, smiling back at her. He tenderly ran his hand up and down her back then kissed her on the cheek.

"Oh, Locke," she exhaled as his trailed his kisses to her lips. He brought one of his hands up to the back of her neck and deepened the kiss, never wanting to stop.