Love and Misadventure

Being chased by a bear and falling off a cliff wasn't part of Levi's plans for the day, and he probably didn't need to make such an effort to break Juliette's fall, but he couldn't let her get hurt. Not just because he felt a need to protect her when her father wasn't around, but because he wasn't able to stop thinking about her since they boarded that damn ship. And now she was complimenting his intelligence, and that bubbly feeling in his guts was even stronger.

She was sitting on a log and struggling with stress and panic now that they were separated from the group, but also seemed embarrassed about what she had blurted out to Levi. He felt guilty that she thought he saw her as a snob, but he felt even guiltier that it used to be true. He gave her a couple minutes to cool off, then sat down on the ground across from her. She avoided looking at him, which was fine since he wasn't sure what he wanted to say, anyways.

"I owe you an apology," he said finally.

She glanced over at him with a frown. "What?"

"I may have judged you too harshly," he said. "And I apologize for that. I don't think you're a snob. Not anymore. I might have used to, but it was an unfair judgement."

"But... not anymore?"

"No," he said, shaking his head. "Honestly, it was an insult to Dr. Covington to assume he would raise a daughter who was a posh brat. I'm sorry if I upset you."

"It's okay."

Her voice was barely a whisper, and she still had a hard time looking at him. He paused a few moments as he thought of what to say next, then sighed.

"It was a bad day," he told her. "That first day we met, I mean. I don't know how much Dr. Covington has told you about the specifics of him hiring me."

"Just that you were a local expert on Leylan," she said.

"Well, yes," he agreed. "I had a different job interview that morning. They were offering me a tenure as a professor at the university. It would have been great, if I accepted. Triple any salary I've ever seen. Then I got a call that afternoon about the vase breaking, so I went to the museum to see. That's where I met Dr. Covington, and he offered me this partnership. He can't pay me much until after it's over and we publish our findings, which could be months. If we even have real findings. But I admire your father and his work and I had a hard time passing up the opportunity, so I turned down the position at the university to do this."

"You turned down the money?"

"I'm not in it for the money," he shrugged. "To pass up an opportunity to work with a world renowned archeologist and historian was a no brainer for me. But then I went home and... well, no one else was supportive of this choice. Some harsh things were said. Beck told me exactly what she thought of the choice. By the time I showed up for my first day of work with your father, I'd been dragged through the coals and the burns were bad. I guess I was in a bad mood."

"Oh," she said quietly. "Beck? Who's Beck?"

He turned a little pale, not realizing he had mentioned Rebecca. He just shook his head.

"It's not important anymore," he said. "I just wanted to say my piece. I'm sorry, and I'd like to start over. We don't have to be friends if you don't want to, but maybe we can be civil. Respectful."

"Okay," she said, finally turning towards him and holding a hand out. "My name is Juliette."

"Levi," he said, shaking her hand with a slight smile. "How about we find our way out of these woods before it gets dark?"

"I think that's a good idea."

Levi was feeling well enough to walk again, though the cut on his forehead still stung. Juliette did most of the tracking, using the plant life to find damp ground and navigate towards the water. It took them some time to find the river, but once they did they only had to follow it for a little while to get back to the boat.

As they walked, they stayed in a sort of awkward silence. It was nice not hating each other, but they quickly came to the realization that "starting over" wasn't as easy as they may have thought. Finally, Juliette was the one to speak up.

"The other day you mentioned Captain Fuller to my father," she said. "I know he sort of shut your concerns down, but I was wondering what you think of him."

Levi remembered the things Royce had said to her and grimaced.

"Right," he said. "I'm sorry about what he said to you back there. That was brutal."

"It's fine," she said, though he could tell she was still stinging from it a bit. "I can handle it. I'm worried about him taking advantage of Daddy."

"I don't know if that's what he's doing," Levi admitted. "Not Dr. Covington specifically, anyways. He was asking me a lot about the treasures within the temple. What they're made of. Gold, jewels, and the such. I think he's interested in fencing those off, so he was gauging whether or not I would side with him and help him. It makes me think this team he hired has a similar interest. Retirement with a bang."

"So he's using us to steal from the temple," she concluded. "Sounds about right."

"We're outnumbered," he reminded her. "If we piss them off too much, they can turn against us. Then it might become more of a problem."

"Then I guess we just keep an eye on him," Juliette sighed.

They finally made it back to the boat just as it was starting to get dark. The rest of the team was already back, and Royce was looking a mix of annoyed and ashamed while Henry paced back and forth. When he spotted Juliette, he rushed over and pulled his daughter into a hug.

"Oh, my darling girl," he said, checking her for injuries. "I was so worried about you."

"I'm fine," she reassured him.

His gaze turned to Levi, seemingly startled by the state of him.

"Levi, what-"

"I'm okay, too," Levi told him. "I think we're just tired. And hungry."

"Royce tells me you two were distracted and wandered off from the group," Henry told them. "What on earth were you distracted by?"

Levi and Juliette both blinked in surprise, then glanced at Royce. He didn't look at them, but he had clearly lied about the circumstances of what happened. They could have easily outed him, but maybe it was the wrong move to make an enemy of him right away. There was nothing stopping him from killing the three of them and dumping them on the river bank while he took the map for himself.

"Yeah," Juliette said reluctantly. "Just some flowers I saw in my books. Levi helped me identify them, but we slipped and fell. We're fine, though."

She was just as annoyed as Levi was, but she seemed to come to a similar conclusion. Henry just sighed and shook his head. He put an arm around her and lectured her on staying safe during the journey while leading her back to the boat. She glanced over her shoulder at Levi, and he just gave her a shrug. They'd take the hit this time, but now they knew what kind of a man Royce was.