The next time I see Jai is about a week later, the day before our crew's set to go back to America.

It also ends up being tense as hell.

We'd been keeping in touch through text messaging and the occasional Skype call, just chatting away about whatever topics came to mind, but we hadn't gotten a chance to meet up in the flesh again due to our work schedules.

So, when I see him walking out of a restaurant alongside an older gentleman, I can't help myself.

"Hey!"

His head jerks up at both my voice and approach in a way that, in hindsight, I probably should have taken as a red flag, especially with the forlorn grimace I barely glance before his eyes fall on me.

On the bright side, his smile at the sight of me seems genuine enough.

The older gentleman notices and gives me a big smile as well. "Ah, a friend of yours, Jai? You did not even tell me."

His Indian accent is palpable, flavored by his well-groomed scholarly appearance. I can definitely see the intellect in his eyes as he regards the younger man – and maybe something else although I'm not entirely sure what.

Jai only shrugs, the action making him seem small despite being taller than either of us, let alone his attempt to seem nonchalant.

"Slipped my mind," he replies with a shrug, averting eye contact.

The older man clucks his tongue like an exasperated father before addressing me again. "I do apologize. If I had known, we would have invited you!"

I hold up and wave my hand. "Oh no, that's fine Mister…?"

"Arman Khurana. Doctor Arman Khurana." he offers with a slight bow of his head and an extended hand. I accept the handshake and am a little taken back by how strong it is. Clearly, someone here doesn't miss arm day. "Jai and I had just finished discussing an upcoming excursion to India."

The country name catches my ear. I turn to Jai with an excited grin. "Oh, yeah. You said your grandparents came from there, right? I hope your trip goes well."

He gives me another smile, except this one doesn't reach his eyes. If anything, it makes him look strained…and a little panicked too?

Before I can ask what's wrong, Arman has a hand on Jai's shoulder.

"As do we. So sorry, but we truly must be going." Arman gives Jai a look that strikes me as a little intense despite his smile. "Don't we, my boy?"

Jai manages a jerky nod, his voice low. "Y-Yeah, we do. It was nice seeing you again, Noah."

I hesitate to answer, still feeling like I'm missing something here, but return the nod with some reluctance. "Same here, man."

And just like that, they're off, leaving me to stare after them.

For some reason, my heart feels heavy.

I shake my head at my own thoughts. Jai and I had barely known each other for a couple days, so who was I to assume?

Yeah, I was probably just imagining things.

XXX

We don't meet back up for two months.

Not for lack of trying. Remember, text and Skype. Oh, email too.

Even then, though, sometimes his responses wouldn't come for days, let alone a week at times, which left me to assume he had a lot of work on his hands. To be fair, life had gotten a little busier for me, too, what with my new job with Elena's crew and my own personal projects in between.

Part of me feels bad for not keeping in touch enough, but, hey, that's just how life gets.

Imagine my surprise then when one morning in my apartment, while checking for responses from my latest client on my cellphone, I notice an email from Jai dated from last night.

Hey, Starlight:

How's tricks? Sorry for the radio silence. Things in India got a bit messy.

You're probably asleep right now. Sorry about that too, I just got back to Britain. Feel free to respond whenever you can. We can meet up. I'm free for the next few days.

Sincerely,

Jai

Starlight? Is that his nickname for me?

My lips can't help perking at the corners, amused, as I switch to my text app to type back my response.

NC: Sure thing, Cool Blue. How's 10:30 AM on Skype sound?

His response is almost immediate.

JD: I was thinking more like actual face to face. You still live in Texas, right?

NC: Yeah. Austin to be exact. Wait, are you thinking of taking a plane here? You don't have to do that.

JD: I want to. Or maybe I need to? I've got something on my chest I need to get rid of, and it wouldn't feel right, doing it through a camera.

Well, that sounds concerning…but I decide to trust him on this one.

NC: In that case, how about Zilker instead? Same time?

JD: Just looked up the cheapest flight. Should take me about 10 and a half hours if I leave straight away. Any excuse to get some sleep.

NC: Take a flight headed to Austin-Bergstrom. It's not far from the park.

JD: Already ahead of ya, mate.

NC: Then let's make it 12PM instead. Sound good?

JD: I'll be there. See ya, Starlight.

And now I'm left staring at my screen, perplexed and a touch worried.

Why do I feel like I'm in for a doozy?

XXX

The moment I see him in the park the next day, sitting on the grass on the edge of the huge field, I am instantly worried.

For one, he looks like shit. His clothes are clean but ruffled, like they were put on in a hurry, and his hair, usually so well-kempt, is all over the place.

Second, he has some serious rage radiating off his face. It's so different from his usual calmness that it freaks me out, enough to make me reconsider coming any closer.

I shake my head at the thought. No, I ain't turning tail after coming all the way out here.

With a deep breath, I steel my nerves and force myself forward. Ever so slowly.

"You know I'm not going to bite, right?"

OK, maybe not that slowly.

I hurry my feet up and plop my butt down on the grassy ground next to Jai, my posture stiff as hell because I have no idea what to do or say next.

Apparently neither does Jai because we just sit in awkward silence for the next few minutes, both of us staring off into space, our moods contrasted by the sunny weather and frolicking people out there in the fields.

I sneak a few peeks at him before finally deciding to hell with it and opening my mouth to say something.

"I'm sorry."

And now I'm wheezing out the air meant for words like a deflated balloon. Talk about timing.

Jai flickers his eyes to me for a hot second, apprehensive.

"A lot of things happened during my trip," he goes on to explain. "So much that I still need to process it all. Honestly, I wanted to see you so that I'd have someone to vent to. Someone I can trust not to judge me too harshly."

Uh oh. He isn't kidding, I can tell as much from the solemn light in his eyes. I relax and angle my body towards him to show he had my attention and gestured a hand to signal him to proceed.

Jai notices and sighs, deep and heavy, setting both hands on his knees. He closes his eyes.

"You remember Arman Khurana?"

I blink at the name I haven't heard in a while. "Yeah. What, did you two have a difference in opinion?"

A sharp bark of laughter escapes Jai, startling me.

"That's putting it lightly," he murmurs in a faint growl.

I eye him, suspicious, my mind flashing back to when I met the doctor, to those off feelings I'd kept getting around him.

Something's definitely not adding up.

"What do you mean?" I ask in a slow tone, bracing myself.

Jai takes a sharp breath. "Listen. The truth is…Asav is nothing more than a classist madman. Bastard's the leader of some inane insurgent force trying to overthrow India's government out of some twisted sense of entitlement. Leaves nothing but blood and misery in his wake."

Yikes. Off feelings confirmed then, I think to myself, a little stunned.

But then I raise both my hands up. "Hang on, when did you find out about…all that?"

Jai angles his head skyward with another sigh. "Well, to be fair, I'd been aware of his true nature for a while. I thought I could handle whatever he could dish out"— he rubs his shoulder tenderly – "but I guess I overestimated myself."

My brain needs a second to catch up, but once it does my disbelief hits hard.

"Wait-wait-wait! You already knew he was a shitty person, but you stuck around anyway?" I shake my head in disbelief. "Dude, why?"

Cause I'm pretty sure those weren't the type of people respectable archaeologists should associate with.

Jai hangs his head with a rueful half-grin. "That's the thing about being a treasure hunter. You gotta learn how to roll with the punches, and you don't learn how to roll the punches without seeing how well you match up against the heavyweights first."

Wow. Holy shit, wow.

I look away for a moment to take in everything he's telling me so far.

"Treasure hunter." The phrase feels weird on my tongue. I look at Jai again, feeling a little hurt. "So, wait. That whole thing about you being an archaeologist was a lie then?"

To his credit, Jai wilts at the look I'm giving him. "No lie. I really am an archaeologist – got the degree and everything. But I'm also an actual treasure hunter."

I blink, curious. "Like Nathan Drake?"

Despite the mood, my comparison evokes a chuckle out of him, a brief moment of levity.

"Yeah, save for a big difference. You ever look around you, take a solid look at the job you're in and feel like something ain't right and you're one of the few who sees it?"

I narrow my eyes in confusion, not quite getting what he means.

He notices. "Let me rephrase that. You ever feel like your professions' still stilted in a very white way?"

Oh. Oh, that's what he means! In that case, I nod fervently cause crap yes, I've felt that way.

Jai returns the nod. "It didn't sit right with me, the way all those items from nonwhite cultures often get treated. I tried doing things the legit way for a while, got a few papers published on the topic, and even got to bring up it in some lectures."

My eyes soften in sympathy. I can tell where this story's going. "That's how Arm—Asav noticed you, right?"

Jai's lack of response is telling.

"Hang on," I press. "He couldn't have been the only one who did. What about others?"

"There were others, plenty who offered positions on their teams seeking to combat the issues I brought up. Libraries, archives, museums…except for some 'reason' I kept getting rejected."

Huh, weird, I think to myself. I would have thought someone who put so much effort as Jai would have an easier time finding a spot, unless…

Suddenly his emphasis on the word "reason" hits and my jaw hangs.

…no.

No, no, he doesn't mean what I think he means.

The realization on face must be obvious because he's giving me another rueful smile. "Asav's a fan of sabotage, it turns out. Seems he didn't want some 'Anglicized disgrace' as competition."

God, what an asshole, I think in shock.

"Sad part is," Jai continues. "I didn't even realize until a month after I left for India with him. Lucky me he's got some real motormouths for henchmen."

I readjust myself to fully face Jai. "So…you're a full-fledged treasure hunter now?"

He lets out a huff of air. "Ah, sorry. I realize I've sort of been jumping around a bit. No, no, I already started going down that path about a year before I met Asav. You see, you weren't wrong about him being the only person I attracted attention from."

He's shifting around to face me in turn, eyes intent. "There was another person who took note of me early on, the daughter of a much more decorated archaeologist. Said I was wasting my breath doing things on the straight and narrow."

I snort, interrupting him by mistake. "Sorry, sorry! Are you about to tell me you added treasure hunting to your career track just because a pretty woman told you to?"

Jai rolls his eyes, although there's no mistaking his smirk. "Give me more credit than that, Starlight. I ain't the type to compromise my goals. That said, she did make a convincing point about changing up the means."

I cock my head. "Then the treasure hunting's more on the down-low?"

Jai nods and so I shrug.

"Then why Asav?"

With a solemn face, Jai shrugs. "Meeting somebody accomplished who shares your heritage is a damn good shortcut to rose glasses, turns out."

Then he looks away, voice turning wistful. "He made my concerns feel so real, made me feel like I could actually help people like him and me feel more seen"— a scowl takes over him – "and that's exactly how he planned it."

I cock my head. "Wait, then when you started getting nervous when I ran into you two back then, was it because you were scared that I'd find out and want nothing to do with you?"

Jai opens his mouth only to close it back up with a rub to his nape. "That's one of them. My friend circle's a touch small and plus you're the easiest person to talk to I've ever met."

Is my heart fluttering? I think it's fluttering. I blush and chuckle quietly, honored.

Jai chuckles quietly too. "The other reason is that I needed to build my credentials as a treasure hunter a touch more and didn't want you blabbing anything that could jinx it. Uh, no offense."

I smile to show no hard feelings. Besides, he's not wrong. I can be a bit of a motormouth at times.

"I'd already gotten a couple jobs under my belt," he continues. "But I always got overshadowed by my partners…so I went for someone big, figured a few jobs under them would bump me up enough notches."

I lean forward. "Except you underestimated just how shady and unhinged your mentor really was, right?"

Jai rubs his shoulder again, sighing. "In a nutshell yeah. You'd think with all the sketchy blokes I'd dealt with by that point, I would have known better by now."

I break eye contact and twiddle my thumbs, sympathetic. "I take it Asav didn't make leaving easy for you."

Jai shakes his head, but his face isn't as morose as I expected. "Nope. Joke's on him, though. Turns out I wasn't the only one who'd gotten tired of his bullshit."

My head swivels at that last part. "Really, who else?"

To my frustration, Jai just wags a finger at me like the damn tease he is. "Sorry, Starlight. Sworn to secrecy. I can tell you though that this person has offered me an…internship of sorts. In fact, I'm currently on break between assignments."

And he's picking now to infodump all this on top of me.

Honestly, I'm a bit beside myself.

Touched by the revelation that he values our friendship.

Kinda hurt that he kept such a big secret from me.

Maybe a little scared about what all this means going forward – for him, for me, for everything in general.

Yeah, I'm just a whole spaghetti dish of emotions right now, and I'm not sure where to stick the fork first.

Might as well start with the center.

I take a deep breath and exhale with a clap of my hands. "OK, listen. I appreciate you coming clean to me about all this"—I pause—"90% of this. 89%."

To his credit, Jai looks pretty admonished and resigned as I speak, which almost makes me cave in. Staying mad is also not one of my greatest strengths, but I force myself to continue.

"It's gonna take a long time for me to process it all, but that doesn't mean I want nothing to do with you. I'm just…a little wary of you at the moment."

Jai arches a brow, bemused. "Only a little?"

Despite myself, I manage an amused smile.

"Hey, if I'm gonna hang with Elena's crew, I'm gonna wind up diving into some dangerous places sooner or later. This" – I trace with one hand an infinity symbol between us as if Jai's literally dumped his guts in front of me – "is basically me dipping my toes in, so if I want to stay clear because you're dangerous to be around, then feel free to change my name to 'Hypocrite'."

Jai blinks for a moment before huffing with a smirk. "Personally, I like 'Noah' better. Flows off the tongue more easily."

I try to shove him for that lousy joke, only to get a full-blown laugh for my feeble attempt.

He shoves me in return and I'm on my back.

Curse this man and his longer arms.

And curse my stupid heart for making me laugh, especially when his warm chuckles join in.

"Hey, Noah?" Jai asks me once we've both settled down.

I sit back up. "Yeah?"

"Thanks. For everything I mean," he murmurs with a grateful smile.

I return the smile. "What are friends for?"

"No really. I'm gonna do my best to be more open with you about this stuff from now on, including the stuff I can't tell you about yet."

"Hey, no rush," I assure him with a wave of my hand. "Besides, I still need time for adventures of my own. That way, we got stuff to compare!"

Jai half-smiles in amusement. "Shouldn't take too long for you, if what you've told me about your friend's to be believed."

I roll my eyes. "Don't know about that. Elena's bold but she's not insane. I doubt she'll land herself in anything too crazy."

XXX

Elena emails me about surviving El Dorado with Nathan Drake about a year later.

And also pulling the plug on her history show.

Screw you, irony.

XXX

"Gun training?" Jai asks me on Skype a month after Elena's message, turning his eyes to me from the email I've just sent him.

I nod with the most solemn face I can muster in my navy pajamas with white stars. It's still pretty early in the morning.

"I wanna learn how to handle a gun so I can protect myself better," I explain to him. "And maybe some hand to hand too for combat flexibility."

Jai narrows his eyes, studying me. "And for what, dare I ask, would you need all that?"

My nerves come back, and I try my best to keep eye contact. "You know how Elena switched over to being an investigative journalist, right?"

"Yeah," Jai confirms with a nod. "Ain't that what you'd been trying to convince her on? What with your history show not going anywhere and all."

A dark blush heats my face at the last bit. "Yeah, well, you can thank Nathan Drake for changing her mind."

Jai arches a brow at me, smirking. "Is that jealousy I'm hearing in your tone, Starlight?"

A soft scoff escapes me. "No…maybe a little. Changing Ellie's mind on anything has always been tough."

"And suddenly this roguish debonair white boy with great hair sweeps her off her feet in a whirlwind adventure and now she's suddenly making a career change?"

I give Jai and his teasing self the drollest look ever.

"Not as glamorously as you put it, but yes. Still, I'm glad we're finally switching tracks. You know she's been fixated on this show since high school? It was some sort of survival reality show that got the idea started in her head."

Jai chuckles, amused. "Sounds like a real opportunist. And what about you? What's photography got to do with some history picture shows?"

I shrug. "Well, you just answered your question there. Certain shows make good use of still images, especially for stuff like title cards. That's where unit photographers like me come in handy. It's good money."

"Except it's missing something for you, innit?"

Only now do I avert my eyes. Jai really knows how to read me like a map. Either that or I'm just that obvious.

His sigh reaches my ears.

"Noah. You really oughta take a page out of Elena's book. Being opportunistic, I mean."

I shuffle my dolphin slipper-clad feet, feeling self-conscious. "Hey, I take plenty initiative! I set up my own photography blog and landed that photography job without Elena's help! I just didn't know 'til I got the job that she works there too."

Jai actually snorts at that last part. "Coincidence or fate? The world may never know."

Despite myself still not looking his way, his quip gets me smiling again.

"Hey," Jai speaks up to get my attention. I look up at him. "No shame in wanting something steady for income, but if you're aiming for a bigger dream, then go for it. Don't go waiting around for Elena or me or anyone else to give ya a signal."

A bigger dream…

Thoughtful, I turn my eyes to something in my lap, something just out of Jai's view: a decorative Tibetan necklace.

"Hey, Jai?" I ask at last.

"Yeah?"

"Did I ever tell you how long Elena had been tailing Drake?"

Jai shakes his head.

"About three years. Got this crazy lady to go hunting the man down for her and everything. That's how Elena managed to find him." I knead the pajama fabric on my left knee. "Part of me was actually happy that she did."

I can feel Jai's close attention on me as I continue.

"To be honest, I don't think she was satisfied with her show anymore either, even if she wouldn't admit it. Ellie and I, we both got into our respective careers because we want to make a difference in the world."

I finally meet Jai's gaze again. "That's why I want you to teach me how to protect myself. Elena hasn't asked me yet, but I can tell the question's been on her mind – and I wanna beat her to the punch. Show her I can take initiative"

My nerves settle the more I keep talking. I feel braver, even as my eyes drift back down to the necklace.

"Because honestly? You're right, I can't go waiting around for someone's OK. Because…because I do have bigger dreams – or at least one anyway. And right now, Ellie – and hell maybe even Drake – might be my best first step in making it happen. So, what do you think?"

The way Jai breaths in response sounds off to me and I look up in concern.

He's averting his eyes from me with one hand gripping his face, more specifically near his glistening eyes.

Hang on, is he…crying?

"You must have been a motivational speaker in a past life," he replies, voice sounding a little choked up. "That was way too inspiring a speech to make in your jammies."

Wow. OK, I can only blink right now because that is not what I expected to hear.

Fortunately for me, Jai as usual is quick to recover and gives a supportive half-smile.

"Yeah. Hell yeah, I can teach ya how to use a gun. I'll throw in some fisticuffs too, free of charge."

I probably look like a doofus with this big smile on my face right now, but I don't care.

There's also probably tears building up in the corners of my eyes, but I'm quick to wipe them off.

"Thanks, man."

"Don't thank me yet," he says in a firm yet gentle tone. "Save it for when you come back in one piece."