A/N:

I hope you have enjoyed this journey. This chapter is dedicated to Reader575, who graciously shared her ideas with me. This chapter is as much hers as it is mine. Thank you so much, your support has made writing this a lot more enjoyable :) If you haven't already, you need to check out her amazing stories. Desert Princess, Tri-Olitz, And what has it Gotten Me are my favorites. Also, read her collection of one-shots.

"What's up with all the orange jumpsuits?" Cyrus asked. Scores of men in jumpsuits were digging six feet holes into the ground while others excavated the soil into wheelbarrows. Everywhere he looked, there were mountains of dirt ; he couldn't believe the devastation. The yard was filled with so many holes it put a spaghetti strainer to shame. "Daniel, it seems to me that you, and your children, and your children's children can dig for the next hundred years and never find this so-called treasure."

Daniel shrugged. Ever since Fitz and he were kids, he wanted everything Fitz had or wanted. He needed to find the treasure before Fitz; it was his chance to upstage his brother.

Two men called out from one of the deep grave-like holes where they couldn't dig any deeper; they'd uncovered the flat side of a hinge and a bit of splintered wood. Thinking it must be the treasure, Daniel ordered everyone to clear the area and climbed into the hole himself.

He started digging with his hands. It was another minute before he realized he was looking at the remains of an old coffin: one corner of it was sticking up at a weird angle. He continued to dig until at last, he was able to pry open the coffin. Expecting to find the long lost treasure, his eyes widened in anticipation and quickly turned to revulsion as he discovered there was nothing in there but a large, gruesome skeleton. Yikes!

"Lookout!" Elizabeth shouted. Both she and Daniel heard the telltale rattle at that precise moment. Her eyes widened at the sight of its big red eyes.

Fear choked in Daniel's throat as a rattlesnake slithered down toward him. Holy shit! He was trapped inside the hole; there was no way to go.

He knew at once from the way the snake it faced him that he was in grave danger. He was quick to grab a shovel and tried to hit it, but the angle was wrong, and he missed.

Suddenly, the snake charged forward, and Daniel let out a series of wretched screams, his body shaking with fear but just as it was about to strike, Cyrus grabbed a shovel and decapitated it.

Daniel, Elizabeth, and Cyrus let out a collective sigh of relief as the snake's head rolled over beside Daniel, its body severed a few inches behind the head.

"Oh, thank God, thank God," Elizabeth wailed.

Daniel felt a warmth running down his legs and was horrified to realize he had just wet his pants. He panicked as Cyrus reached down to help him climb out of the hole and stood back. He imagined the moment his wife, Cyrus and his men and the look on their faces when they realized what happened. His mind frantically scrambled for a way he could save face.

He smiled to himself as the idea formed in his head. "Wait. Not yet, I need to get a souvenir," In the next moment, Daniel grabbed the snake's head, intending to lift it above his head caveman style. His grin of triumph froze in his face as he stared down at the head of the snake. Even as felt the sting, his eyes refused to believe he had just been bitten by the decapitated snake.

"You! Son-of-a-bitch!" he howled.

Elizabeth and Cyrus stared in shock as the snake's head once again rolled on the ground beside Daniel.

"Help!" Cyrus motioned to the men in jumpsuits who were just as surprised as they were about the snake's seemingly strong hold on life. Getting a freaked out Daniel out of the hole was not going to be easy.

"Hurry the fuck up!" Daniel yelled. "Get me out of here before that thing bites me again!"

Common sense dictated it was unlikely the decapitated snake could strike again but then again, moments before none of them would have believed it could move, but now they'd seen it with their own eyes. The men stood around idly, looking at one another.

At last, two brave volunteers came forward to help. Daniel, however, suffered the double humiliation when at last the men were able to pull him out of the hole and discovered him bawling like a baby with a wet diaper, tracking loads of mud into the house as they dragged his limp body inside by the armpits.

LATER

At the hospital, Daniel's doctor discussed his condition with Cyrus and Elizabeth hours after the incident with the snake.

"Because a headless snake can no longer regulate the amount of venom it produces," the doctor explained, "it simply releases everything it can. We had to put Mr. Grant in a medically induced coma and administer twenty-six doses of antivenom."

Cyrus shook his head in disbelief. If he hadn't seen the decapitated snake attack Daniel with his own eyes, he would have never believed it. One thing was for sure, it had been very foolish of Daniel to pick up the decapitated head, and for the life of him, he couldn't think of a single reason that made sense.

…...

Two months later

"Here they come," Olivia mumbled hoping they could pull this off and pretend they were genuinely surprised to see them. "Just keep on smiling."

Fitz smiled at his fiancee; she seemed like the incarnation of beauty clad in a simple white halter; its elegant, modest triangular front gives no hint of the daring square strapless back which ends just above her tailbone. It draped her petite frame perfectly and exposed just the right amount of her supple skin; skin he couldn't resist caressing.

Sliding his hand to the small of her back, his gaze reluctantly shifted to Elizabeth and Daniel as they made their way toward them. They were at an art gallery in front of a new exhibit. Today, the exhibit, which included several pieces of priceless jewelry and precious stones, was being dedicated to the memory of his Russian grandmother.

"Fitz, Olivia, what a surprise!" Elizabeth fake smiled. She wasn't particularly fond of art, but they had received the invitation anonymously, and she just couldn't resist.

"The surprise is ours," Olivia smiled. "What a small world." She paused, looking at Elizabeth.

After greeting his brother with a nod, Daniel stared at the name on the placard. "Is this-"

"My Russian grandmother?" Fitz gladly finished for him. "Yes, this exhibit has been dedicated to her memory," he stood proudly.

"The...the jewels?" Daniel stuttered, feeling suddenly hot and uncomfortable, he pulled on the small bowtie on his neck.

"Yes, the jewels are part of my heritage. The Russian treasure was part of a collection belonging to the wife of Nicholas II before they were executed. My grandmother was a rightful heir, their only niece," Fitz paused for effect, cocking his head, happy to put to rest any notions that the treasure was ever stolen.

"Oh... you haven't heard? We found the treasure!" Olivia announced with a big smile.

"Wh-what?" Daniel and Elizabeth interjected in unison. "Wh-when?"

"We found it the day of Adam's birthday party," Olivia gladly answered.

"BUT!" Elizabeth screeched. "But we've looked for that treasure for months! Daniel nearly died bitten by a snake!" She glared at Fitz as though he was personally responsible.

"Yes, we heard," Fitz spoke softly. "I'm sorry you had to go through that...I'm glad you're okay, though," Fitz said sincerely. He cared about his brother even if his feelings weren't reciprocated. And while Daniel had been hospitalized, he had Cyrus delivering daily updates about his condition.

Daniel turned to Fitz with undisguised bitterness. "So you got what you wanted, didn't you? You got the house and the treasure."

"Actually, Fitz donated the entire treasure to the museum," Olivia clarified, and Elizabeth let out a loud gasp. "So technically he didn't get to keep the treasure."

"Donated?" Elizabeth exhaled in frustration, drawing attention to her ill-fitting dress; buttons bursting at the seams accentuating the plumpness of her figure in all the wrong places.

Fitz pursed his lips and smiled at Olivia. He then turned to Daniel. "I only got what was rightfully mine. But those are just material things. The real question is...was it worth it to you to fight me tooth and nail on this?"

For a moment there Fitz saw a flicker of hesitation in his half-brother's face. But then, his face hardened with pride. Maybe one day he'll come around, Fitz thought. But if getting bitten by a snake wasn't enough to humble him, he didn't know what would.

Six months later

After their wedding, Olivia and Fitz went on a European tour for their honeymoon. Upon their return, they would be taking permanent residence in Fitz's childhood home at last. The judge had ruled in Fitz's favor. Daniel did not file an appeal; he lost interest in the house shortly after learning that Fitz had found the Russian treasure. Fitz suspected that after spending a couple of weeks in a medically induced coma, might have had something to do with Daniel's decision not to file an appeal. His relationship with his brother improved somewhat after that, in the sense that the animosity between them came to an end. However, Fitz still preferred to keep him and his family at a distance to avoid engaging in a toxic relationship.

A year later

Fitz and Olivia returned to Cancun to celebrate their first wedding anniversary and the second anniversary of their vacation trip. This time, they brought Adam with them. The first thing they did was return to the ruins in Chicken Itza and venture out to the cenote. Adam was scared at first, but his confidence started to build as he watched other people make the 20-foot drop.

At last, he plunged into the cenote holding hands with Fitz and Olivia joining them soon after. The most striking part of the landing was the perfect coolness of the water, so incredibly refreshing after a day out in 90-degree weather. And the viewing of the collapsed ceiling of what had once been an underground pool at the bottom of the jungle floor, covered in large jumble pieces of green and orange mosses. The great limestone slabs formed mysterious openings, knew no boundaries and fed into underwater caves at almost every side. The three of them waded in the water, fully present in the moment, their perceptions heightened and fully connected to one another and their magical surroundings.

The next day, they went on a full-day expedition to Xplor Adventure Park. They swam through gushing rivers, admired rock formations and maneuvered a powerful amphibious vehicle over different terrains of the park. Fitz drove through the dense jungle with Adam acting as a co-pilot and with Olivia riding in the back holding on tight to the tubes on the roof. Adam got a big kick out of pointing out the various obstacles in the way. "Look, daddy, Look, daddy!" He said over and over again. Olivia's eyes filled with tears of happiness, knowing father and son loved each other a thousandfold. Now that the adoption had been finalized, Adam was Fitz's son in every sense of the word.

Afterward, they enjoyed riding on a raft through atmospheric caverns, past spiky stalagmites, and sharp crevices. There was a never ending of adrenaline-fuelled activities. Perhaps the best of all was riding one of the most kid-friendly zip lines ever invented. It was basically a hammock zip-line that flew over the cenotes and then water land in them. As they plunged through at high velocity, past a live crocodile, Adam let out a surprised squeal. Right afterward, they feasted upon a flavorsome and fulfilling buffet. They had ice cream and flan to their heart's content. They posed for a complimentary family photography session with Adam acting goofy and proudly showing off his two missing front teeth.

The photographer captured a candid picture of Fitz looking over at his lovely wife and son affectionately. In the next second, she turned to look into his eyes, full of love and the very peace of heaven passing between them.