A Tale of Two Nate's
"okay, I think we're clear, c'mon." Victor Sullivan said as he walked out into the crowded city under the sweltering sun. The younger of the two men: Nathan Drake followed, placing both hands on the doorway as he went through it. "We gotta make ourselves scarce – before more of them show up." The sudden sunlight made Nathan's eyes water as he left the small hut. Elena and Victor had already reached the bottom of the stairs when Nathan was only just passing the fountain full of beautiful water that shimmered in the sun. "Alright, up here, this way." Elena said as she began to climb the stairs, Victor followed closely. As they reached the halfway point they heard a gasp from the man behind them. Nate gasped and felt the back of his neck, slouching slightly. He pulled the piece of metal that had pierced his neck and he examined it. "no!" he gasped, realizing that he had been drugged. "Nate?" Elena asked urgently, Nathan turned to Victor and Elena who were now on the bottom step, looking back at him. "Run…" Nathan said as he looked around for a way out of his predicament. "Oh, no." Victor sulivan said as both him and Elena started toward him. Victor put out his arms to support his young friend. "Alright, easy kid."
"Stay away." Nathan growled and stumbled back, putting his hand out to rest against a metal trash can for support. Victor picked up the dart on the ground and held it up to inspect it. "What's wrong with him?" Elena asked taking a step toward Sully. "They drugged him. C'mon… we gotta get him outta here." Sully and Elena started toward drake. "c'mon son." Sully tried to comfort him. "Stay away from me!" Nate growled as he pushed Sully backward. "We just wanna help." Elena said as she raised her hands, showing that she meant no threat. Nate swung out his fist in a punch but hit nothing as he fell to the ground, quickly he got back up again "Get away!" He ordered. Nate stood and ran to the pillar to the left of him, he turned and made one last look at his friends, before running off into the alleyway.
He ran as the voices in his head talked to him, whispering and he knew no one else could hear. Everything was so distorted. He continued. "Get away from me! " He called as he passed a trader selling fruits, he lost his footing and fell into a door. The door, weak and corroding gave way and he fell through the door and into the abandoned house. He lay on his back for a second and looked around, trying to ignore the voices. He could see stairs, and at the top of the weak looking stairs a young boy looked back at him. The boy looked familiar, he wore a long sleeved tee-shirt with a white chest and red sleeves, his jeans were dirty and worn around the knees and his shoes were blue converse. The boys brown hair hung messily over his eyes. Then without a word, the boy took off, through the door at the top of the stairs. Nate stood and lost his footing, going down briefly but regaining footing he stood up straight. He started up the stairs. "Hey kid!" Halfway up, the stairs caved in and Nate only just managed to catch the ledge at the top. He pulled himself up. "Hey kid. Wait up." He called. He went through the door arch way as the boy had done. The boy stood at the other side of the room, leaning out of the window, looking back at Nate. The boy stared at Nate, waiting for him to do something. Nate took a step forward and then fell to the ground. The bot smiled widely then vaulted out of the window and on to the roof of the next building. Nate stood and followed suit, he wasn't as quick as normal but he tried to keep up with the boy. He didn't know why he wanted to catch him so bad, but he was going to. He was too determined to let him go so easily.
The boy jumped from the edge of the roof and grabbed onto a bar, he swung on it, he pushed off and very nearly missed the roof he was aiming for, upon landing he stumbled then rolled and quickly got on his feet. Nate followed but quicker, he caught up and grabbed the boys arm. "Gotcha!" Nate laughed. But then it got weird. Nate looked into the boys brown eyes and saw himself. Like gazing into a mirror. He finally realized why this boy looked so familiar. This boy was a younger Nathan Drake. Nate looked at the boy In amazement. The boy took his chance and slid under Nate delivering a kick to his groin and he started the way he came, this time dropping down a floor onto the balcony below. "Hey… that was my move." Nate said, recovering from the kick. The boy looked back. No one was there. He was gone. He ducked into a bedroom window of an old couples house who he happened to know that they would b out for the day, as they often take long walks in the city often until the next morning. He knew that they stayed out drinking alcohol but who was he to complain? He threw himself onto the satin sheets of the bed and sighed in relief. He hadn't lay in a bed in weeks. The thrill of the chase had his heart beating at hundred miles per hour. Who was that man? And why was he chasing him? He lay on the bed thinking of the man who had chased him and he drifted off to sleep.
After recovering from the painful blow to the groin Nate stood up straight, his balls still in agony he had to continue. He felt better now. There was no distortion and he could still feel the pain in his groin, so the boy had to be real. He ran towards the edge of the building and jumped onto the balcony that the boy had jumped to. He looked around, wiping sweat and snot from his nose. There was no sign of the boy. He followed the balcony with his eyes and realized that the balcony led onto a wall that had a climbable ledge jutting out of it. "Friggin' kid." he said as he started off down the balcony. He passed an open window and it took him several seconds to realize what he had saw inside. Slowly he took a step back and looked into the bedroom window. The boy lay on the purple sheets, deep in sleep and snoring lightly. "Gotcha."
The boy woke with a start at the sound of the window closing. His eyes darted toward the window. His earlier pursuer stood at the window, looking at him smugly. "Rise and shine, sleeping beauty. " Nate quipped. The boy sat up and rolled off of the bed. The door to the room had been closed and locked by the house owners. The boy was trapped and he knew it. "I haven't got your wallet okay?" he said nervously. Nate felt his back pocket on his trousers and realized that his wallet was in fact gone. "I knew I didn't telegraph any moves…" he said quietly.
"what?" the boy asked as he backed up into the corner next to the bedside cabinet. Slowly he fingered around the cabinet and found what he was looking for. Barbers knifes. Nate sat on the bed and chuckled lightly. "I know you have my wallet kid." The boy looked instantly worried. "but, I'm not mad. If anything I'm amazed. " the boy seemed wary still and to be safe he slipped the barber knife into his back pocket. "how did you pull that off?" Nate asked as he scanned the boy from head to toe. "the pocket was open, plus that's a stupid place to keep a wallet. " he said quickly.
"yeah, I guess." He smilled, he didn't want the boy to be scared. But he let his mind realize that he was in a room with a younger version of himself. "I know…" the boy said abruptly. Nate looked at him curiously. "you know what?" he asked. The boy walked closer to the bed only slightly. "I know that you're me." Nate chuckled. "yeah, I'm still trying to get used to that one myself. But why did you run?" he asked. The boy stood back again, raising his guard as he had before. "I had to… I knew you would follow me if I ran." The boy smiled weakly. "why did you want me to follow exactly?" the boy shifted his weight onto his right leg. "I saw who drugged you. A man with black hair, he was wearing a suit, then I heard him say to the women he was with that they were going to go down and get you. I had to do something. So I tripped you when you passed the fruit stall. And you were out for a couple of seconds. Giving me enough time to get to the top of the stairs." Nate was impressed. He stood and walked closer to the boy. "wallet… please?" he held out his hand. "come and get it!" the boy tried to run for the window but Nate cut him off and kicked the back of his legs making the younger fall to his knees. He then pinned him down kneeling over him with a knee at each side and his arms held above his head. "Get off!" the boy growled. The 14 year old could smell the dirt and sweat from the older male's groin and it made him tingle all over but he tried to keep focused. "Give. Me. My. Wallet." Nate insisted.
The boy winced in pain as the older pushed his hands into the ground rougher this time. Nate leaned heavier and crushed his hands until he cried out in pain. He was in agony but he tried not to cry, he tried so hard, but he couldn't keep it in. A tear escaped from his beautiful brown eyes. He decided to fight back, pleading with his older self wasn't getting him anywhere. "Fine then," he grunted in pain. "If you wanna play rough, I'll play." The younger brought up his knee and his Nate's crotch again, the older fell back onto his back side and the boy quickly jumped to his feet. Nate stood up, holding his damaged balls. "Damn it kid." He grunted. The younger, now on the side of the room where the window was, opened it slowly and smirked at his older self. Nate was about to respond by spearing the boy when the door creaked open behind him. An old man shuffled in with a shotgun in hand. "What are you doing in here? Get outta here!" He pumped the shotgun and gave them a deep growl, his voice slurred, he was clearly drunk. The boy turned and dived out of the window landing with a sloppy forward roll and then springing to his feet, before jumping off of the balcony and landing on the ground with a stumble narrowly missing a fruit stall. The old man aimed his gun at Nate, ready to take the shot, he responded with a kick to the guns barrel, making the old man shoot the ceiling. Nate ran for the window and dived out. He sprung to his feet and tried to copy the boy, his attempt however was not as successful. He fell short on the jump and fell into the fruit stall, breaking it completely and mashing oranges and bananas underneath him. The trader shouted in a foreign language, angrily waving his hands around in the air. Nate stood and followed the boy down an alleyway, bumping into pedestrians as he ran, knocking some to the floor. He sped down the alley and came to an opening. The place was crowded, mega crowded. He couldn't see his younger self anywhere. He kicked the floor and cursed. "damn it." He scanned the place with his eyes, but could see only the business of the residents of the city.
The boy ran into the next alley, he didn't know why he was still running. He knew he had lost Nate. He had lost him at the clearing. But he felt like he wanted to run. He had no idea why. He climbed on top of a bin and leaped to a balcony, he pulled himself up and vaulted over the railing, he kicked a plant pot over and it fell to the ground, smashing loudly on impact. He kept running. He was getting tired; he had to find somewhere to sleep. He spotted a man leave his home, a posh man. He was clearly better off than anyone else in the city. He looked at the building that the man had just left. It was a big house. The door on the balcony was left open. If he jumped from the balcony he was on, he would make it. He needed sleep badly, so he had to rest in that house. He made the leap.
Nate ran down the alley, he could swear that he heard something smash; he saw a broken plant pot on the floor. He kneeled beside it and picked up a piece. A grunt broke the silence of the alleyway and he looked up to see the young boy jump from one balcony to the other. Into a rather large house. He smiled. He waited a second, for the boy to get in to the house. Then he ran at the wall and jumped at the window bars, using them as a foot hold to reach a brick that jutted out of the wall. He grabbed the brick and pulled himself up, shimmying over to the next window he jumped up and grabbed the bottom of the balcony. He used the bars as monkey bars all the way over to the edge, then he climbed up, slowly, to avoid making noise. He pulled himself up and slid off his shoes. His socks were off white and sweaty. He hadn't changed any clothes in at last five days. He shuddered at this. He really wanted to clean up. He placed his boots on the railing and quietly walked into the room. The boy was sleeping already. "how does he do it?" he asked himself quietly. He looked around the room and noticed some rope in the corner, rolled up and draped over the clothes horse. He grinned. "Run now you little bastard."