Work Text:
The anger I’d felt seconds ago was replaced by sheer confusion. What was he talking about? He correctly interpreted my lack of instant negative response as an invitation to go on. “You and me, we make a great team, Rose.”. That was true, up until a few minutes ago. “Your brilliance and my guile. We’re premier league, Rose.”. The reality of the situation washed over me like a tidal wave. I was near shouting back at him. How dare he compare the two of us? He lied to everyone. He betrayed the Grandmaster. He betrayed me. “I did what I had to do and believe me when I say I hated deceiving you. “. I knew he was being sincere. That made everything so much worse. Why couldn’t he just lie about everything? Why did he still have to be him ?
No, Rose, you need to focus. Remember how he betrayed you for money? Focus on that. “It’s simply a means to an end.” There were no feelings behind his words, he was just stating a fact. If my morals had been a little more grey, I’d probably agree with him. “There are so many wonderful things out there, Rose, still to be discovered.”. I wished he would stop talking. He was right, of course, and I didn’t like that at all. “Noah’s Ark.”. Wait. “The lost city of Atlantis.”. Was he for real? “The Holy Grail.”. I couldn’t help myself. If he thought the holy grail was a valid argument then I’d ought to feel no shame in bringing up the most ridiculous legendary place of all. I wasn’t angry anymore, no, I was almost having fun. And a growing part of me didn’t mind at all.
“Yes, Lemuria! Hidden miles beneath the pacific ocean.”. How could he believe in that? Lemuria is just a story. “It could blow the lid off evolutionary thinking.”. Well, so is the crystal, and we found that. Making a scientific discovery of that scale did sound tempting. “But it takes money - lots of it - if these artefacts and places are to be found.”. True. “That’s why I did this.”. I shouldn’t be considering this. “You and me, together, we have the brainpower and the skill to be the greatest explorers that ever lived.”. We really could. “And we’ve already proved that by finding the crystal.”. How did he know just what to say? “Think what else we could achieve, Rose.”. I wished he wouldn’t say my name like that. I felt my defences starting to weaken. Remember your morals, Rose. He’s still a thief and you don’t want to be as bad as him. He stopped for a moment and looked at me. His voice was soft. “I’m not bad.”. The voice inside my head agreed with him. “Impassioned, yes. Driven by my love of archaeology, guilty as charged. But not bad. Surely you can see that.”. Yes, I could and that’s the dangerous part of this. I still cared about him despite all that he did. I pleaded to him. Together, we’d be able to fix this mess. As he said, we’re brilliant. Maybe it could all work out in the end.
“You know that would never happen, Rose.”. I knew that, deep down. Even if he returned the crystal, he’d still have to suffer the consequences of working with SKUL. “But that could, is you and me could walk out of here now and start the greatest adventure ever.”. I was really considering his offer. I knew he was right and I always enjoyed a good adventure. With him, it would probably be even better. “Come on, Rose, what do you say?”. My mind was racing. If I did this, I’d be labelled a traitor and have the whole M.I.9 after me. We’d have to hide for the rest of our lives. And I’d have to leave my family behind. I’d have to leave Carrie and Oscar behind. Could I really do that? They were my team, my friends, my whole life. I looked at the gate. There was still time to do the lawful thing. Return to my old life. But I remember the way Vinnie’s eyes shone when he talked about archaeology. How he understood my mind better than anyone else. How he never ridiculed my thirst for knowledge; instead sharing it. The way my name fell from his lips. I could never go back. Even if I turned him in, my heart would still belong to the young man in front of me and I’d spend the rest of my life wondering what would have happened if I was a little braver. I met Vinnie’s gaze. He looked so hopeful. I smiled. “We need to leave before my team finds us.”.