Another Chase - National Treasure

One - Next Stop: Washington D.C.

She should have just called him. She had been doubtful before, but then, when he'd come to see her at the airport before she left, before she went all the way back to Germany, just shown up, she had felt a change, and she should have just acted on it right away. Because the more she waited, waited and wondered, the more she put it off, the more doubtful she became again. The more she thought about it, the more confused she became again, and the more she began to question it.

Now she was back on a plane flying back to America. It's not like she was worried about running into him there – she knew for a fact he was back in England with his niece now. But since D.C. was where they had met in the first place, she felt connected to him being there, somehow. It didn't really make sense, any sense at all. Thinking about the city made her think of him. It was funny that way.

Oh, if she had only known what would happen the last time she had arrived in Washington D.C. from Germany. What a whirlwind of events would transpire in the days to follow.

She'd said she needed time to think, but the truth was, she didn't need any more time. She knew: she liked Ian. Maybe even loved him. The fact that it had all happened so fast shocked and confused her still, but she was becoming more and more sure of it now, those feelings, her feelings, while still becoming more and more doubtful of their situation.

She recalled their final conversation before she had boarded her flight back to Germany:

"You know, you stumbling upon us was the best thing that happened during the whole hunt."

"E-even better than the treasure?"

"Even better than the treasure."

Even better than the treasure...

Even now, recalling his words sometime later, they still managed to shock her deeply. She didn't know what to make of them, or how they made her feel. 

He had genuine feelings for her too, that much was clear, but it was her abduction by him and his crew which had brought them together, a dangerous chase and treasure hunt which had quickly strengthened their bond. Maybe it hadn't been intentional, them abducting her, but it had still happened, that and the fact that it was during a theft and them still working illegally, and that just further complicated everything. She wished it hadn't happened that way, in the way it had, but then, she wondered, would she have even met him otherwise? Would their paths  have even crossed at all? The thought made her uneasy. 

No, she wished it hadn't happened that way, but it had happened, and there was no changing that. And with the whole complicated abduction thing, they hadn't let her go, but they also hadn't restrained her at all. And she herself, had she really wanted to leave after getting to know Ian better and understand the whole reasoning behind all this?  She had kind of become like one of the team in a way, at least to Ian and Phil, she wasn't sure about Viktor and Powell, but certainly not to Shaw.

Ugh, this was all so confusing and complicated! Why did it have to be this way?

Well, no one had ever said love was easy.

(Hello and welcome to the long-awaited and long overdue sequel to 'Chasing Chase', and welcome back to my 'National Treasure' stories!  Thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :))