Sam perfectly remembered the last time his kitchen had been filled with his entire family. Back then, there had been one baby sleeping upstairs and a very hard decision to make.

Now, they had one baby and two toddlers sleeping upstairs, seven other kids watching a show about talking monster trucks teaching basic physics, and the decision was harder to make than ever. It was no longer just about them, but about their children and how they would live out the rest of their lives.

Unlike back then, the decision was bigger than him, overwhelming and threatening to swallow his self-control. Because what they'd done over the past four years now seemed incredibly reckless. They were young. They could've waited.

Instead, they'd wanted to live because in their line of work, they never knew how much of that they could get. And they all hoped they would make it work. But everything they'd done and what they were now facing took him back to when he was eighteen and he had no idea what he was doing.

Surprisingly, not much had changed since then. Kyle and Jimmy still looked secure and unbeatable, Tom was the master of mischief, his tattoos only confirming what had always been beneath his skin. Even Jerry, looking happier than ever, still had the concerned air and seemed seconds away from going into mother hen mode.

Then there were Jessie, Kay and Angie, still looking as in love with his brothers as they'd always been, Angie sitting in Tom's lap, Jessie and Jimmy leaning against each other as they stood propped against the counters. Kyle sat on one of the counters too, Kay leaning against him, his knees squeezing her hips.

Only Sarah was a new addition to their initial group, but she fit in so well, Sam sometimes had trouble remembering that Jerry had been with Tina before.

And Christine... It was times like this that he couldn't believe he'd ended up married to her, had kids with her. But she wasn't the same girl who had been his girlfriend in high school. She'd grown so much, it was impossible not to love her. The real her, not some ideal goddess he created inside his mind.

Truth be told, none of them were the same people. Not after everything they'd been through. And yet...

"Are we getting started already?" Tom asked. "Not to burst your bubble or ruin your concentration, but that show doesn't last forever."

Yep, one important change was that they never got more than a few moments before a child came bursting in because they wanted something. And what he had to say was very important and Tom knew it.

Christine squeezed his hand, and he felt the fear in the gesture. The weight of what had to be said plunged in his stomach and he once again felt like an idiot. But holding it back would do them no good. Knowledge was power.

"Okay, I'll get straight to it then." He took in a deep breath which earned him an eye roll from Tom. "I know where the last jewel is."

There was a moment of complete silence in which Christine squeezed his hand again, this time in support.

"Excuse me?" Jerry asked. He looked to Sarah immediately and she shared his concerned gaze. After all, their baby was only two weeks old.

"When?" Jimmy asked at the same time Kyle asked, "Where?"

"Two weeks ago, actually," Sam said, shifting in his seat. He'd lost a bit of practice when it came to this fearless leader thing. "And it's in Brazil." He left his chair and picked up the rolled up maps resting against his fridge. "Do you guys need five minutes to panic or should I go into history lesson mode?"

"Get going," Jimmy said with a wave of his hand. "We can panic while we listen."

"We're not panicking, Sam," Jessie said, though Sam didn't buy it. 

Maybe she wasn't, but he could tell that Kay, Christine and Jerry were moments away from needing a paper bag. Fortunately, the rest of them really didn't seem that overwhelmed. On the other hand, Angie probably knew already and it was very hard to unsettle Jessie and Jimmy.

"Okay, then." He lay out the maps on the table. The part on top was just of Brazil. "There's a small shrine here." He pointed to a stretch of jungle along the Amazon River, close to the border with Peru. "There was an archeological expedition there a few years back, but it's now abandoned. Apparently they didn't believe this little shrine was worth all the dysentery. I'm assuming the real temple is underground."

"How do you even know the jewel's in there?" Kay asked, her voice a little higher than usual.

Kyle leaned over her to get a look at her face. "You okay, sweetheart?"

Kay waved him away. "Maybe it really is just a shrine."

Sam wished it were, but he couldn't lie. He opened one of the drawers and pulled out a stack of photographs.

"They found this inscription." He lay the photo he'd shown Tom and Christine on the table. "It's the light of the gods all over again. And by now, we all know these inscriptions only appear in places that actually have jewels." Even if the inscription was in Aztec and shouldn't actually be there. That aspect had baffled Sam the most, but since he didn't have an answer or a theory yet, he saw no point in boring them with it.

A brief moment of silence followed his words as everyone processed that it was real. They'd really found the last jewel.

"Are we sure no one got it out?" Jimmy asked, crossing his arms over his chest. The stiffness in his posture indicated that he was thinking about the Agency. 

"Not our friends," Kyle said immediately. "Their parallel research is going poorly. It's the only reason we're not already dead. Whatever crap Sam has been feeding them so far is a lot more likely than what they come up with."

Sam nodded, pride and satisfaction dimming the panic. Since Kyle had managed to basically create a spy network within the Agency, he knew almost everything going on behind their backs.

"We have no guarantee Snitch Gravel doesn't have it, though," Tom pointed out.

"Is he even still looking for them?" Sarah asked.

"Yeah," Sam said, hating how much that complicated things. He was a lot more competent and dangerous than the Agency. "The fact that he's left us alone doesn't mean he gave up on screwing the Agency over." Which was now, ironically, a common goal they shared.

"Could the first archeological camp have actually been Snitch Gravel?" Jessie asked.

The question managed to faze Sam because he hadn't even considered it.

"No," Christine said to everyone's surprise. She turned to Sam and continued, "I actually asked my dad about it after you told me, and he says it was something from a University is Washington DC. It was someone's PhD project, but it ended tragically, so it's now the kind of thing that everyone avoids speaking of."

"Plus, I kinda have a feeling we would know if Snitch Gravel managed to get it," Angie said, exchanging a look with Jessie.

Before Sam could open his mouth and ask what she meant, Jerry intervened.

"How much time?"

The question plunged the room in silence once again, because they all knew what it meant.

"Not much longer, I'm afraid," Sam whispered. "If I could figure it out using public data, Snitch Gravel is not far behind. And the Agency does need results and I haven't given them anything in over a year."

"How did you even figure it out?" Sarah asked, apparently trying to draw Jerry's attention from doom and gloom.

If history and suppositions were going to help them forget even for a moment what they had to do, Sam was down for it, so he rolled up the map of Brazil and left the map of the world under it for viewing.

"Because I believe I've found the pattern." He put his finger on Egypt. "We all know this part. Lights of the gods, great power, tragedy. Fire. The gifts of the gods. While I was struggling to figure this out, I remembered something Skye said to me in Egypt." The mention of her name still hurt him a little, but he'd embraced the beauty and happiness she'd brought to his life, so he moved past it. "That the gods wanted the jewels to be the gift that keeps on giving. I thought it was cute at the time, but combine that with their potential for mass destruction and you get something else.

"They're obviously a fire hazard. Kept under the sun, they set fire to things. The Egyptians wanted at least some of them gone. Enter the Romans. Two or three massive fires that burned Rome down later, they started spreading them across the empire in key provinces as a sign of power. And which were the most important? 

"Britannia." He pointed at the UK. "Hispania." His finger traced over to Spain. "Lusitania." Portugal. "Gallia." He stopped in France. "I'm not sure how the six were split, but my theory is that maybe there were more in France since Gallia was in itself split into a lot of different provinces. The thing is, I believe Britain got the most of them."

"Really?" Tom asked. "What makes you say that?"

"Because three of the places we found them in reek of British Colonialism." He started pointing at the map again. "The US, India and Japan. It's likely that the ones from Mexico and Brazil are the ones from Spain and Portugal, and France kept its own."

"That... That actually makes sense." Jerry watched him with so much pride, heat actually rose to Sam's cheeks. "You really did figure it out."

"Yes. After so many years, I finally did."

"Don't belittle your brains, Sam," Kyle said. "The Agency sat on this information for over twenty years and you figure it out in five and without actually trying too much."

Trying not to feel too proud of himself, Sam grinned at his family. But the fact that he'd done it and that he was right brought them back to the initial issue.

"Now all we have to do is get it out," Jimmy said. "And then basically disappear off the face of the planet."

"That's not true," Kyle said unexpectedly. "With Snitch Gravel out of the picture, all we need to do is overthrow the Agency."

"Yeah, just that," Tom said, rolling his eyes.

"The way I see it, after we get it and destroy it, we can still pad it out for a few more years," Sam said. "At least until the kids are a little older."

"How?" Jerry asked, throwing his hands in the air, the worry evident.

"By not letting them know we have it," Sam said with a shrug. "We can pretend we didn't find it, come with another likely alternative, and just sort of go on vacation twice a year and claiming we're still searching."

"And what if they catch on that we're lying? What then?" Kay asked. "Because unfortunately, we haven't been known to fail too often. They already don't trust us."

"Kay's right. They might want to send their own teams to double check," Kyle said.

Unfortunately, that really was an issue and Sam hated it. The price of their relative calm was steeper than he liked. Not like there was anything they could do about it, but it still annoyed him that after all these years, they weren't any closer to being trusted. Sure, they were plotting to destroy the Agency, but they didn't know that.

"I've been thinking about it. Since we're going to the right place this time, I wanted to tell them that we're actually going to Peru. They'll buy that."

"Huh, smart," Tom said, rubbing his chin.

Sam rolled his eyes. "Why do you always sound so surprised?"

"So how are we going to do it? And when?" Jerry asked.

This was the hardest part, because Sam really didn't have a solution for it. Whether the Agency followed them or not, the journey in itself was dangerous. They were talking jungles and ancient traps. Again. Ironically enough, it was ending just like it started.

"I've been thinking... " He swallowed heavily because he knew how this sounded and that no one would enjoy it. "Maybe it should just be the five of us." 

"No," Jessie said before anyone could open their mouths. "Definitely not."

"Jessie, think about it," Jerry said. "We can't all go. The kids--"

"You shouldn't go either," Kyle said, pointing at Jerry. "You just had a baby."

"No, I can't let you guys go without me. You'll forget to eat and die of overexertion before you even get there."

"There's no way just four of you are going in a jungle," Angie said and now everyone was talking over the other.

"Who will stay with the kids?"

"What if we all die, what then?"

"We can't be just a handful. Snitch Gravel could still be there."

"Stop!"

It was Christine's voice rising above the others that silenced everyone. There were tears in her eyes and she bit her fist. Sam wanted to wrap his arm around her shoulders, but she pushed him away and stood.

"This hurts," she said, her voice low. "This is awful. But it's the last one and we have to do it."

"We all have to do it," Angie said, getting off Tom's lap and joining her. "We started this together and we need to end it the same."

"Babe," Tom started, but she raised her hand.

"No. I know it's dangerous, but we have a better chance together. We always have. Whenever we got split up, we couldn't manage anything."

"Plus," Jessie said. "We've been through this many times and still came out alive. We can do it one more time. I'd rather we all came back than just a few of you."

"I'm with them," Jimmy said, unexpectedly. "We can't trade lives or parents. Each and every one of us is just as important. So we're either all going, or none of us are."

Sam wanted to grumble. Of course Jimmy was on Jessie's side. He always was. And without delay, Kyle threw his two cents into the pile.

"I'm going with whoever wants to go. The only one I think should stay home is Sarah, and that's only because she's still breastfeeding."

Sarah opened her mouth, but closed it again. She didn't have the best experience on previous adventures since she'd basically been locked up for almost a month last time.

"Okay," she said. "But only because Michael is so small and I know I wouldn't be particularly useful to you guys."

Sam didn't like it. Because there should be more of them staying behind, especially a certain someone. "Um, Christine..."

"No. No way! I'm coming with you." She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him.

"Why? You didn't really enjoy it last time." And apart from Michael, their twins were the youngest.

"But I survived it. And I was nowhere near as ready and determined as I am now. I'm going to be there for you. For all of you. And carry my own weight."

She made a very valid point and Sam didn't think he'd ever loved her more than he did right then.

"Okay, now that we got that out of the way, I have another one," Kay said, pushing herself off the counter. "Who's gonna look after all these kids?"

Her question had all of them falling silent again. They couldn't drop nine children on Maxi. It would kill her. She wasn't particularly able to care for any child more than a few hours anyway.

After she'd been forced to stay with Sammy for a month, she'd dodged babysitting for almost a year. She'd only changed her mind once Kay had Jenny and Alex, but even now, she kept the kids for as little time as possible. Sam sort of resented her for it, especially since Christine no longer had a mother and the professor was useless, but he was lucky.

"We can take our kids to New York," Christine said, looking up at Sam. "Leave them with Skye's parents."

Sam breathed relieved, because it was exactly what he'd been thinking. Over the years, they'd kept in touch with Jack and Rose and the two had always offered to help Sam as much as possible. Fortunately, they also loved Christine. Probably because she kept reminding Sammy that she had another mother who was watching her from heaven.

"I could keep an eye on Jenny and Alex as long as someone else carpools them," Sarah said. "They're actually old enough to help me with the baby."

"Are you sure?" Kyle asked. "I mean they mostly behave, but they have their moments."

Sarah waved him away. "We get along great. I'm sure they'd be up for it. Plus, I'll have my mother with me."

"You should move into our house then," Kay said. "And I'll talk to William about carpooling and helping you with everything you might need."

"Do you think Mom can handle our little monsters?" Jimmy asked, turning to Tom.

Tom shrugged. "She'll have to. Not like we have other options. And it's about time she started behaving more like a grandmother than a cool aunt." 

It was true. They didn't have any other option. Not when Jessie and Angie no longer had families of their own. But even if it wasn't ideal, Tom had a point. They didn't have any other choice. Maxi would just have to suck it up and do her part.

"When do you want to leave?" Jerry asked, once again sounding nervous.

Sam looked at him and Sarah, hating himself for this, then at the others. "Two weeks?"

"Are we sure that wouldn't be too late?" Tom asked quietly.

"I wish I could push it back a few months and give Jerry some time to spend with Michael," Sam said. "But I'm scared. If I found it, who's to say someone else wouldn't? After all, a shrine in Brazil is pretty unusual." More than unusual. It was bordering on barbaric.

"That's okay, Sam," Jerry said with a shaky smile. "I'll be back to my family soon enough. Might as well go now while Michael mostly sleeps. Once he's older, Sarah will need a lot more help."

"Yes, plus, as I've said, I still have a mother who can help me," Sarah said. "It will all be fine. You just go and do your thing."

There was a hum of understanding between everyone just as the credit music to the cartoon started playing. It took seconds for Robin to burst into the kitchen and demand water for everyone.

Christine smiled and ruffled his caramel hair, then turned to the sink to fill glasses and sippy cups.

They'd managed to fit their conversation in the span of a twenty-minute episode.

🧭🧭🧭

And there you have it. Everyone is going on this final adventure except for poor Sarah who is way too new to motherhood and it would just be cruel to drag her along. Moving is hell.

There is some history stuff in there which I greatly enjoyed sinking in and researching. Do you think it made sense? Also, notice how I gave different reasons for Rome burning down so many times? That's why this is so much fun.

Thoughts, predictions? Can they actually drag this out? Find the stone, destroy it before anyone else grabs it?

Guess you'll just have to stay tuned and find out. Hit the star and leave a comment.