Disclaimer: I do not own Jane or Kurt or Blindspot. Writing about them is simply the outlet for my obsession.
A/N: I know the wait for this chapter has been slightly longer than my usual lately, but for some reason this one was giving me trouble. However, when I say that once I got going, it grew a little out of control, I'm not kidding. I had to force myself to cut it in half (so yes, this is only half as long as it would have been). Therefore, the wait for the next chapter will be very short, since the next one is basically already written and edited. I hope you enjoy it!
Jane and Kurt reached the boardwalk without any major incidents, and thankfully, without Kurt feeling the need to punch anyone. He made a conscious effort to be calm, avoiding the crowds of people on their way to the beach as much as possible and trying to close his ears to the conversations of the people around them. Even now, twenty-four hours after they'd clearly heard people blatantly insulting Jane practically to her face because of her tattoos, it still upset him. He didn't know how Jane had remained so calm. Still, despite the fact that it hadn't seemed to rattle her, and despite the fact that she could certainly take care of herself, he felt fiercely protective of her. Even a few whispered words or a sentence that ended abruptly nearby was enough to make him tug her a little closer to him. Neither of them turned to acknowledge any of these, but they did hear several.
They walked to the railing at the far edge of the boardwalk, the same one they'd leaned against in the rain the night before. Standing beside the stairs side by side, they stared out at the beach. It was already littered with people despite the fact that it was only just before nine o'clock in the morning. It was far more crowded than it had been the previous day at that time, since it was Saturday morning and now officially the weekend, and it took them a few minutes to figure out where Sarah and Sawyer had set up their things.
"I see it," Kurt said, pointing to a brightly striped orange and yellow towel beside a dark blue one, partway down the beach toward the water.
Sarah, even the prepared one, had made sure to spread out her brightest towel in the sand, so even though she and Sawyer weren't actually on the towel, Jane and Kurt knew that that was their space.
Jane took one step to walk toward the stairs, but Kurt quickly grabbed her left hand, pulling her back. She looked at him, puzzled, and stepped back toward him. He'd turned around to lean his back against the railing, a serious expression on his face.
"What's wrong?" she asked, confused.
"Nothing's wrong," he replied, tugging her toward him until she was in front of him, close enough to reach his arms around to her lower back. She rested her hands on the skin just below where the sleeves of his t-shirt ended, her thumbs moving back and forth almost imperceptibly.
"Oh," she said slowly, wondering if was guessing right, based on his behavior. "When we find Sarah and Sawyer, are we not…?" she trailed off, not even sure what she was asking. Kissing in front of them, she wanted to say at the end of her sentence, but somehow she felt self-conscious about actually forming the words.
He smiled at her knowingly, pulling her closer still. "Kissing?" he asked her, pulling her in for a kiss and then leaning back to look at her. "It's up to you," he told her, reaching up to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, then returning his hand to its position on her lower back. "Within reason, of course," he added, "Sawyer is only eleven… we don't want to traumatize the kid." She swatted at him playfully and they both laughed. Serious again, he looked into her eyes, as if trying to ask her something without actually using words. They'd always been good at this.
"But no, that's not why I pulled you back here. And nothing's wrong," he said slowly, "I just wanted you to myself for one more second." He paused, looking thoughtful, then asked, "Do you have thoughts… about the kissing thing?"
She blushed furiously, shaking her head and looking away. "Stop it," she said without looking at him.
"Really? No thoughts?" He looked at her skeptically, purposely pretending to misunderstand her. "So if I stayed five feet away from you at all times… that would be okay?"
"No," she replied, finally looking at him and narrowing her eyes playfully, "Why? Was that your plan? Because I think we've already proven that that's going to fail. Quickly."
He chuckled, knowing his bluff had been called. After all, their faces were only a matter of inches apart just then, and already he had the feeling that they weren't quite close enough. He was about to say something else when suddenly, a familiar voice rang out from just behind him, down below in the sand. "Uncle Kurt! Jane! You guys finally made it!" It was Sawyer, of course.
For just a second, Jane's eyes met Kurt's as they both remembered another time when Sawyer had appeared seemingly out of nowhere… the night that she'd slipped her detail, shown up outside his apartment building, and kissed him. Their first kiss. She had been abducted by Carter's men almost immediately afterward. So many things might have been difference in their past if not for that one interruption…
Kurt turned around to lean over the railing and look down at his nephew, and Jane slid over beside him, both of them resting their forearms on the metal railing. "Hey, buddy!" Kurt called. "Where'd you come from?"
"I saw you from across the beach!" Sawyer yelled excitedly. "Are you coming down or what?" Sarah was walking up towards them as well, having obviously fallen significantly behind her son, who'd probably sprinted across the sand when he'd spotted them.
"Of course!" Kurt called, taking Jane's hand as they started toward the stairs. She looked down at their hands questioningly, then back up at him, just like she had at his hand on her waist when they'd taken a picture by the Neptune statue together the day before.
Are you sure? her face asked. In reply to her unasked question, he stopped walking, leaned over and, to her surprise, pressed a gentle kiss against her lips. She smiled, feeling warmth rush to her cheeks and knew that they were probably once again a lovely shade of pink that was not caused by the sun.
"Maybe I should ask more questions nonverbally," she whispered, which made him chuckle as he turned around and they walked down the stairs.
Looking up, she saw Sawyer run up to Sarah, who'd now caught up to him. "I found them, mom!" he called excitedly.
"I see that," Sarah replied, coming to a stop in front of them and looking from one of them to the other, not missing their joined hands and obviously not having just missed the kiss he'd just given her. She looked beyond pleased – her smile could've powered a small electrical device with its intensity just then.
"How's it going, you guys?" she asked, trying to act casual, though failing badly.
"Pretty good," Kurt told his sister, equally nonchalantly. Then, turning to Sawyer, he said, "Sorry we took too long for you, buddy."
"That's okay," Sawyer said with a grin, their "lateness" now forgotten. "Come see the giant hole I've been digging!"
"Oh yes," Sarah agreed, "come see how he's been spending his morning so far." They walked down the beach toward the water, Jane and Kurt following behind Sarah and Sawyer, dodging between towels, umbrellas and sand toys, until they finally reached Sawyer's giant hole. He hadn't been exaggerating, either, because it really was a giant hole. Approximately three feet wide and almost two feet deep, the hole was quite impressive.
"Wow," Jane said aloud as they stopped in front of it. "That is a giant hole. Did you dig that whole thing by yourself?"
"No," Sawyer replied, shaking his head, "there were some other kids helping me for a while, but they got bored and wandered down that way." Sawyer pointed down the beach, appearing to be looking for the kids in question for a second before looking back up.
"So," Kurt asked him, "is the hole big enough, or do you need some help?" Sawyer looked at the hole as if this was a question requiring serious consideration.
"It's not done yet," he replied. Then, as if he suddenly understood why his uncle was asking, he asked, "Why? Do you want to help?" The boy's voice was hopeful.
"How many shovels do you have?" Jane asked. It looked like it would be fun, and it certainly wasn't something she'd ever done before, that she could remember anyway.
"I think I have five," he replied. "They should all be in that big bucket." Sawyer pointed at a large red bucket a few feet away from them. Jane stepped over to peer inside, and sure enough, there were five plastic shovels inside, all different colors. She bent down and took out two, handing a blue one to Kurt and keeping a purple one for herself.
"Let's get to work, then," Kurt said with a smile. Though he didn't want to, he dropped Jane's hand slowly, letting his fingertips linger against hers for an extra second. The look on his face was apologetic, but she just smiled back at him, not at all surprised that they couldn't help dig Sawyer's hole in the sand while holding hands. It wasn't as though Kurt was going anywhere, after all – though she did miss the contact almost immediately.
"Here," Sarah said hastily, still standing nearby, "give me the bags, and I'll put them over here with our other stuff." Kurt handed her the bag of towels, then squatted down in the sand. Jane was about to hand Sarah the beach bag, when she realized that she might as well take off her shorts and t-shirt before sitting down and getting them sandy.
"It's okay, I've got it," she told Sarah, following her the short distance to where their towels were laid out. "I should take this stuff off, before I sit down in the sand, anyway." She set her new green beach bag down beside Sarah's brightly striped towel, and then, thinking Here goes nothing, she took off the shorts and t-shirt that had been hiding so many of her tattoos. She wasn't sure if she imagined it, or if she heard a faint gasp or two from somewhere nearby. The noise of the waves made it too hard to tell, for which she was grateful. Sure that she could feel eyes on her from somewhere, she glanced around quickly, but didn't catch anyone staring at her. Still, she knew that the odds were that someone was, and she tried her best to keep her face neutral.
Sarah hadn't heard anything specific, but she had noticed a slight change in Jane as soon as she had stripped down to her bathing suit. She couldn't help but remember that Jane had been the one to reassure her about the murmurs surrounding her tattoos the day before, but now she saw Jane glance around, clearly sensitive to the additional attention she was sure to get. Being the kind person that she was, Sarah felt the need to reassure her.
She leaned over to Jane conspiratorially, whispering, "If they're looking, it's because you make the rest of us look bad, Jane. And if they're being nasty, it's because they're jealous." She watched as Jane blushed slightly in surprise, obviously not having expected that from her.
"What? Oh… No… I mean, uh, thanks," she stammered, thinking back to the conversation she'd had with Sarah the day before amidst the crowd of people on their way to the beach – some of whom had been downright rude about Jane's tattoos. "Just… don't say anything to Kurt… he's being a little, uh, overly protective on that particular subject."
Sarah just chuckled. "Yeah, that sounds like him, always trying to protect people," she agreed. "So," she added, unable to resist, "Did you guys have fun last night?"
Jane looked up at her and smiled, and Sarah saw her blushing. "Yeah, we, uh… went to Catch 31 for dinner," Jane said slowly. "It was really good. We sat at one of the tables on the patio with the fire pits."
"Oh, those are so cool!" Sarah exclaimed. "One of these days I'll do more than walk by there… Did you guys get stuck in that crazy rain I heard when I was going to bed? It sounded like a monsoon."
"Yeah, we did, actually," Jane replied, remembering back to the night before, and standing in the rain with Kurt. She could feel the goofy smile on her face, but she didn't care. Besides, there was nothing she could do to get rid of it, anyway, even if she'd wanted to. "We were soaked pretty fast, so we just kinda gave in to it… but it was warm outside, so it was okay. It was a good night."
Sarah was watching her with a grin on her face when Jane looked up at her, and she glanced back at the boys quickly to try to hide her slight discomfort. She knew that Sarah was just happy for them, she just wasn't accustomed to being on the receiving end of so much attention – not from anyone except Kurt, of course.
"Well, good," Sarah said with a smile. "Oh, before I forget to tell you… I heard that there's some sort of concert down here tonight, further up the boardwalk. I think it's in that park by the Neptune statue… someone told me it was a surprise guest," Sarah told her. "It might be worth checking out."
Jane nodded. "Good to know," she said, glancing back at the boys, who seemed to be involved in a deep discussion of some kind. "I'm going to see if the boys need help with the digging," Jane told Sarah, who chuckled slightly.
"Have fun," she called after her, watching Jane approach them, and the way Kurt's eyes lit up when he saw her. Yes, she looked gorgeous in her bathing suit, but it wasn't just that. She'd watched his face change many times, both when he was around Jane, and when he was simply talking about her, but it was even more noticeable now. His feelings for her had clearly only grown stronger over time, despite everything they had been through.
It's so good to see him so happy, she thought to herself, laying back on her towel to relax now that her son was momentarily occupied. To say that her brother had had a hard life so far was a vast understatement, and he deserved to finally have something good happen to him.
Jane sat down in the sand along the edge of the hole not far from Kurt, carefully trying not to push the sand along the edge into the hole under her weight. Kurt turned and smiled at her, his eyes sparkling, as he laughed at something he and Sawyer had been discussing. She found it impossible not to smile right back at him, their eyes locking for a few seconds before she glanced down at the sand. Reaching into the hole with the plastic shovel she was still holding, she tried to lift out as much sand as she could at once, as the boys were doing. It was heavier that she'd expected – but then, she'd never tried digging in the sand before.
"Hey, Sawyer," she called when she heard a break in the boys' conversation, "How will we know when we're done digging?"
Sawyer considered her question, looking into the hole intently as if he was evaluating their progress. "We're almost done," he assured her. Just then, a wave washed up close to the hole, nearly reaching the side of it. "Oh wow! That was close," Sawyer said in relief. "Time to finish up."
"Besides, when the waves get high enough," Kurt said as they continued to dig, "the water will fill it up and start filling it back in. It'll be like it was never here."
He happened to be looking at Jane when he said it, and he saw a flash of what might have been surprise in her eyes for a split second, and then it was gone. She looked like her normal self, however, he wanted to kick himself for phrasing it that way. He knew that she knew that his words hadn't been intentional, but that wouldn't necessarily make the sting any less. When you – or another version of you – had erased yourself (herself?) from existence, it was possible that you'd be a little bit sensitive to the words like it was never there.
Watching him carefully, she saw his face change as soon as the words had left his mouth. They had stung for just an instant, but she knew without a doubt that he would have taken them back if he could have. Besides, he wasn't wrong. The beach would look like the hole had never been there once the waves washed over it in a little while. There wasn't supposed to be any deeper meaning to what he'd said. The fact that it reminded her of something was a coincidence.
They watched each other for a few seconds, both trying to evaluate the other's emotional state. Jane smiled at him, trying to show him that she was fine, but he continued to frown. "How does that look, Sawyer? Do we need to keep going?" Jane asked, attempting to create a reason for them to get up so she could reassure Kurt that she was okay.
"It's perfect," Sawyer replied. "Thanks you guys." Just then, a much bigger wave rolled in, filling the hole completely and partially knocking down the side that they were sitting on. There were cries of surprise and laughter as the water splashed them, and they jumped up and attempted to step back from the sand as it rushed back into the hole they'd just created, as some of the sand was then washed back out with the current as the wave receded. Suddenly, just as Jane had hoped, they were standing right beside each other.
Water had splashed up the front of Kurt's shirt, which made him realize that he may as well take it off, which he did. Instead of holding onto it, he swung it over his shoulder and looked from Jane to Sawyer, wondering how he could get a minute to talk to Jane alone.
"Come on, Uncle Kurt," Sawyer called, "You said I could bury you in the sand…"
He smiled at his nephew. "Of course you can, buddy, just give me one second to talk to Jane, okay?"
"Okay," Sawyer said excitedly, jogging back towards Sarah.
Just like that, they had a second alone – or, as alone as they could be on a crowded beach. She was standing slightly on his left side, leaning into him and trying to get him to look at her, which he suddenly seemed not to want to do. "Hey," she said, "it's fine."
"Sorry," he said in a loud whisper that was almost drowned out by the sound of waves.
"Not allowed," she told him. "It was a statement of fact. Look," she said, gesturing toward the hole, which was already nearly filled in again. In another few minutes, they probably wouldn't even know that it had been there. "Besides," she continued, "she didn't disappear without a trace. Though maybe that would have been a good thing, in this case…" After all, the traces of her that had been left behind had certainly not been easy to deal with, especially once Roman and Shepherd had been brought into the picture. But they, like the rest of it, were now in her past for better or worse.
It may have been strange that they tended to refer to that other person that Jane had been, named Remi, as she, despite the fact that she and Jane were physically the same person. In so many ways, however, Jane was simply not her. Remi had, from what they'd learned, been a killer, seemingly able to murder people without conscience if it was in the name of their "mission," the reset of the United States as a whole. Jane, while she possessed Remi's skills, and while she was equally passionate about what she believed in, couldn't in good conscience do the things that Remi had done. She was simply not the same person. It made sense to them, therefore, to refer to her as a separate person, and that was all that mattered. Even if she sometimes wished that Remi hadn't left a trace, she had.
Kurt looked at her uncertainly, still feeling guilty, but she just smiled at him.
"Nope, none of that," she told him with a smile, leaning her face closer to his. As she did, she saw the tension in his face ease, and his mouth begin to form into a smile. "That's better," she said, holding herself still with several inches between their noses. She kept her eyes locked onto his until there was no trace of the pained expression she'd seen a moment before. Closing the small gap between them, he leaned forward and kissed her so quickly, she almost didn't have time to react before he was already leaning back again.
Smiling, they turned toward Sarah, who they both saw hurriedly try to cover for the fact that she'd been watching them – which was pretty much as they expected. Even as she looked away, there was a grin on her face. Jane and Kurt grinned as well. They'd known going in that they had Sarah scrutinizing them, but they didn't mind. Not really. How could they, at that point, when she was the reason they were there at all?
They walked back toward Sarah and Sawyer, who were sitting on their towels. Sarah looked up at them, no longer trying to hide the grin on her face. "Hi, guys," she greeted them. It was obvious that she was stopping herself from saying whatever it was that she really wanted to say.
"Okay, Uncle Kurt, are you ready?" Sawyer asked, drawing their focus away from Sarah's wide grin. Jane was glad for the distraction, because while it was a friendly look, she'd been getting a little uncomfortable with the attention from Kurt's sister, no matter how happy she was for them.
"Oh, just a second," Jane said, bending down and reaching into her beach bag. She pulled out her phone and stood up, saying, "I want to get a picture of you before we bury you in the sand." Kurt just looked at her, shaking his head in amusement. She stood back and snapped a picture of him with the ocean in the background, before Sarah came up beside her.
"Go get in the picture with him, Jane," she said, holding her hand out for the phone. "I'll take it for you."
"Oh, okay, thanks," Jane replied hesitantly, surprised, but glad for the excuse to stand next to him. Sarah took the phone, and while she adjusted the frame the way she wanted it, Jane walked over to Kurt, who was looking at her in amusement.
"Come here," he whispered as she walked up to him and turned around, suddenly not sure where or how to stand. He draped his arm over her shoulders, pulling her closer, and without any further thought, she wrapped her arm around his lower back, the position that now felt so familiar. Sarah didn't have to tell them to smile – goofy smiles were plastered on their faces.
Sarah was ready to take the picture when some people wandered by behind them. "Oh, hold on guys, I need to wait a second for a clear shot," Sarah called to them. A group of five or six people walked by slowly behind them, apparently oblivious to Sarah's attempt to take a picture with the ocean – and not other tourists – in the background.
"If I must," Kurt whispered, and Jane chuckled. If there was one thing she wouldn't complain about, that that was being told to hold still where she was at that moment. He turned his face towards her, leaning his face down and resting his forehead and his nose against her head, inhaling the scent of her shampoo.
"Okay, ready?" Sarah asked a few seconds later, when the shot was finally clear, and Kurt looked back up at the camera obediently.
All too soon, of course, Sarah was finished and was holding the phone back out to Jane. After hesitating for just a second, she started forward to take the phone from the other woman, feeling Kurt drop his hand from her shoulder only very reluctantly, and only because she had to step outside of his reach.
With the phone in her hands once more, Jane immediately pulled the picture up on the screen. She found that Sarah had actually taken several in rapid succession, giving her a few similar pictures to choose from. She'd already picked her favorite one when she felt Kurt looking over her shoulder, then less than a second later felt his arms around the bare skin of her waist. She inhaled quickly in surprise, leaning back slightly against him and wondering what she could possibly have done to deserve this good fortune. For a few seconds she felt lightheaded, and she had to remind herself to breathe, sure the dopey grin was on her face once again.
Turned her face slightly, she found that his face was just beside hers as her cheek brushed against the scruff on his. This made them both smile once again, this time at each other. Only a few seconds later, it seemed, Jane's phone buzzed and a notification popped up on her screen. It said that Sarah had sent her what looked like a picture, but the box was simply to tiny to see.
Clicking on it, Jane blushed slightly when she saw that what Sarah had sent her was indeed a picture, a candid shot, more specifically, of the two of them from the waist up, standing and looking at the picture on her phone. In other words, she'd taken a picture of them standing exactly where they were now and texted it to her before they could even move.
They both looked up at Sarah, only a few feet away, where she stood grinning at them. "In my defense, I couldn't help it. You guys are just too cute," Sarah said with a grin.
"It's a really nice picture, thank you," Jane replied. That suddenly reminded Jane of something that Patterson had said to her before they'd parted ways on Thursday evening.
Send me a picture or two, her friend had urged her, and I can't wait to hear how much fun you had.
Smiling to herself and looking back down at her phone, Jane saved the picture Sarah had just sent her, and then selected that one and the one they'd been looking at when the second one had been taken. Feeling slightly nervous but doing it anyway, she quickly attached them to a text to Patterson, clicking send before she could change her mind. It makes sense to send her pictures where she can see me in the bathing suit she helped me pick out, Jane thought to herself, knowing that that was only part of the reason she'd sent them. She imagined Patterson, back in New York, her jaw hitting the floor when she saw the pictures, and stifled a chuckle.
"Did you just send those to Patterson?" Jane was surprised when Kurt's voice suddenly rumbled quietly in her ear, a mixture of surprise and amusement. He was still standing so close to her, after all, that despite the glare of the sun, he could see her screen fairly well. He wouldn't have sent those pictures to anyone himself, but he didn't mind that Jane had. It makes sense, he thought to himself, they're friends. And Patterson did help her find the bathing suit in the first place.
"Um, yeah," Jane replied. She'd wondered if he'd caught that, and how he would react. "She helped me pick this out," she looked down at her bikini, suddenly a little self-conscious, "and asked me to send her a picture…" She trailed off, then looked at him guiltily, before adding, "Sorry, I probably should've asked you…"
He chuckled at her sudden apparent nervousness, leaning down to kiss the top of her bare shoulder. "It's fine," he assured her, "I was just wondering." It wasn't as though what happened at the beach was going to stay at the beach… he thought. Jane looked at him unsurely for a few more seconds, and he continued to smile at her. "Really, it's fine," he repeated. Slowly, her lips curled back into a smile as well.
"Ready, Uncle Kurt?" Sawyer called. Sarah had been trying to stall him for several minutes, keeping an eye on the pair and wanting them to at least be able to finish the conversation they were having. They were just too damn cute. Her son, however, had no such sympathy for his uncle, and he seemed to have gotten wise to his mother's distraction technique.
Kurt looked up at his nephew and smiled. "Absolutely, buddy." Jane felt his arms squeeze slightly tighter around her waist before letting go, and then she followed him around to the space in the sand on the other side of their towels, where Sawyer was directing him to sit, legs out of front of him.
Settling down in to the sand to get as comfortable as possible, Kurt looked up at his nephew. "What now?" he asked him. Sawyer looked at Kurt seriously, replying. "You have to burrow yourself down into the sand a little bit."
"Should we have buried him in the hole you dug?" Jane asked, interested in how this process worked.
"No," Sawyer replied, having obviously thought about that already. "It's too close to the water, it would have washed the sand on top of him right back off. It has be harder to escape from." Jane nodded, impressed that the eleven year old had thought about this so carefully, but also surprised at how seriously he was taking it.
Is the idea that he won't be able to escape on his own? she wondered. This was intriguing… But she couldn't imagine that Kurt wouldn't be able to escape from sand, for goodness sake. Not after all the other things she'd seen him do.
"So what next?" Jane asked, having watched Kurt wiggle himself as far into the sand as he could get.
"We need some of the heavier sand from down there, where it's wetter," Sawyer replied. He held out two large buckets to Jane, one of which contained a shovel. She took them, and then he picked up two more and another shovel, heading toward the water.
"I guess I'm following the boss," she said, shrugging at Kurt with a smile as she followed Sawyer.
"See you soon, I hope," he replied, watching her walk dutifully behind his nephew. They were accomplishing two things at once just then – checking another thing off of Jane's long list of things she'd never done, while also spending time with Sawyer. The fact that they could do both at the same time made it even better, as did the fact that Jane and Sawyer got along so well. The boy had always liked her, even back when he hadn't understood who she was, when they'd first met.
They were back in a few minutes, four buckets of heavy, wet sand between them. Sawyer set down his buckets, scooping up as much of the relatively dry sand from around them as he could and pushing it up onto his uncle's legs, filling yet another bucket with dry sand from a few feet away to supplement what he was able to push into a mound on top of Kurt's legs. Then he wasted no time, dumping his buckets of wet sand on top of the dry sand and patting it down.
After watching him carefully, Jane did the same with the buckets of wet sand that she had collected. Even as she paid attention to where she was dumping the sand, she kept glancing back up at Kurt, seeing him watching her in amusement. Suddenly, Sawyer reappeared with two more full buckets of wet sand, and they switched. She went back down by the water to collect more wet sand, and Sawyer took over dumping what he had collected onto his uncle.
This routine continued for quite some time, with Sawyer eventually telling Jane that now they should switch back to dry sand. The mound on top of and around Kurt had become quite substantial, even encompassing the area behind him. Sawyer had determined that the best way to immobilize his hands – which was apparently very important to him, (this, in turn, concerned Kurt slightly about what it said about his nephew) – was to have him lean back against his arms, wiggle his hands down into the sand, and then they would use the same technique of covering them in dry sand, then many layers of wet sand, followed finally by additional partially dry sand. Sarah just watched, laughing to herself, from the towel at the opposite end of the row.
Jane was impressed, she had to admit. Sawyer seemed extremely determined to somehow trap Kurt in the sand. She supposed it must have been some sort of supreme challenge. His uncle, after all, was an almost larger than life FBI agent. If he could trap such an unstoppable figure by burying him in the sand… well, that would be like a dream come true for Sawyer, she supposed. She wished that she had some sort of expertise to offer him, but she supposed that being a willing helper was enough to make the boy happy. As she watched him work, she couldn't help but see how much he was enjoying himself.
Kurt, likewise, seemed more than happy to be his nephew's guinea pig, sitting still despite how very long they took to pile sand on top of him, not complaining once, looking perfectly happy where he was. She was suddenly flooded with affection for him once more. Despite the serious demeanor he displayed at work, he really did have a soft spot for the few people that he cared about – most of whom happened to be around him just then.
Finally, after Jane had long since lost count of how many buckets of sand they had hauled up with which to cover Kurt, Sawyer finally declared that they were officially finished. Before Kurt attempted to move, Sarah and Jane both took pictures of their efforts for posterity, with Sarah revealing that she had actually also taken some as they'd been working. Jane again received a notification from Sarah's phone – it turned out that the other woman sent her a particularly cute picture of Sawyer pouring wet sand diligently onto the pile around Kurt's arms, behind him, while Jane knelt beside the mound of sand covering his legs.
The biggest thing that Jane noticed about the picture was that Kurt seemed to be watching her intently, and she was starting back at him with the same expression. There were at least three feet between them, and yet, it was clear from the picture that at that moment, neither of them was conscious of anything but each other. She couldn't help but smile as she stared down at her screen, then looked up at Sarah, who was once again watching her for her reaction.
"That's a pretty amazing picture," Jane told her. Sarah just nodded.
"Thanks," Sarah replied simply, giving her a knowing smile.
Jane looked over at Sawyer, who was sulking slightly and hopping up and down, waiting for his mom and Jane to be done taking pictures already, so they could watch Uncle Kurt try to escape. "Tell me when, Sawyer," Kurt told him nephew.
"Okay… go!" the boy called dramatically. With that, Kurt started wiggling under the sand to determine just how much effort he was going to have to expend in order to get himself out of the giant pile that had been dumped on top of him. He found that the sand was actually more difficult to move than he'd originally expected, but it certainly wasn't impossible. Still, he didn't want to break out of Sawyer's hard work too fast… There was more give in the sand around his hands, probably because the bulk of the sand was concentrated on his legs, and he focused on moving his right first, freeing it in an overly dramatic show of triumph before moving on to work on his left hand, which he pretended gave him more trouble than his right.
Sawyer sat and watched, not having really expected to trap his uncle in the sand, despite holding out the faint hope of doing so, and enjoyed the fact that he was at least being entertaining about his escape. The grin on his face was precious, and Jane made sure she got a picture of Sawyer before turning her attention back to Kurt and his exaggerated escape attempt. The answer to whether any amount of heavy sand could stop Kurt Weller was, as she'd expected, no. The fact that he'd been willing to let Sawyer try, however, said a lot about the kind of guy he was.
She looked down at her phone, surprised at how much time had elapsed. They'd already been at the beach for more than an hour. Where is the day going? she thought. There were still more than twenty four hours before they were set to leave, and yet… the clock was running out far faster than she wanted it to. Securing her phone back in the inside pocket of the beach bag, she looked back up at Kurt, who was just standing up, every inch of him that had been buried now coated in sand. It took more than a little bit of effort not to laugh.
He glanced down at himself, then out at the waves, which were far calmer than they'd been the day before, then back to Sawyer, then Sarah, then finally, Jane. "Think I might need to rinse the sand off of me," he said as the others nodded in agreement. It was something of an understatement. "Anyone want to go swimming?" She couldn't help but smile, thinking that there weren't many places that she wouldn't go with him, and at that moment, she couldn't think of any of them.
