Nate refuses to look at me. He pretends to be interested in the maps and documents laid out on the table in front of him, even though he already knows his next destination. Well, his and Sam's next destination. I lay his journal and marked up map of Madagascar's surrounding islands next to Nate's hand. "Whatever you say."

I turn and make my way to the door. Sam meets my eyes for a brief second. I think I catch guilt, but he quickly breaks eye contact.

I make my way out of the room and release a huge sigh. Fighting with Nate always makes me feel like a shitty person. It almost feels like I just kicked a puppy. But I don't feel bad for telling him what he needed to hear.

I flinch as a door slams above me. That must be Elena. I trudge up the steps, trying desperately to come up with something to say in Nate's (and my) defense. Unsurprisingly, my mind remains empty, still ringing with Nate's order. Well, whatever Nate wants, Nate gets, I think to myself before gingerly knocking on Elena's door.

I don't know what to expect. She could react in many ways, most of them fairly violent. I'm sort of relieved when all she does is tell me to, "Go away!" Her voice is muffled as though she's covering her face.

"It's just me, sweetheart," I call back, cringing slightly. Any sane person would have backed off after that. You just don't mess with Elena Fisher.

She pauses for a moment, then responds, "I don't want to talk."

"Maybe you don't want to, but it's important. I need to apologize properly for both myself and Nate. And then there's the whole thing about the brother I need to explain."

"Sully... I..." She takes a moment to compose herself. "Sully, I couldn't care less. I'm done."

"Open the door, Elena," I say softly.

"No, I'm never dealing with your kind again! All you do is hurt me. I'm not doing this to myself again."

"Open the door, and I'll explain everything to you. I promise."

The door finally opens a crack, and a tear filled eye fills the space between the door and its frame. "Then you'd better start talking," she whispers.

I take a deep breath, still not quite sure where I'm going. "First and foremost, I'm sorry I didn't say anything. It was cruel what he did to you, and I could have stopped it. But I didn't. For that I am immensely sorry."

Elena shakes her head and opens the door a little wider. "Oh, Sully, I know you're sorry. It's just I'm not sure if Nate is." She steps back and waves me inside.

I graciously accept her offer. "I don't really have a place to sleep tonight, to be totally honest with you," I chuckle, taking a seat at her small dining table. "Nate made it clear that I was not welcome to join them for the next leg of their journey."

Elena frowns and asks, "Why? You and Nate are usually so close."

"Yeah, well, he didn't like my idea of putting Sam into hiding instead of chasing after Avery's treasure. Nate and I are close, but so is he and his brother."

"Even after... how many years has Sam been in prison?"

"15."

She stares at me, jaw gaping. "15 years?!"

"Yeah, Nate saw him get shot and slip off the roof of a three story building. It was safe to assume he was dead, but Nate did some extra digging anyway. He found nothing, and it took him some time to accept Sam's death."

Elena counts something on her fingers, then gives me a confused look. "So if you've known Nate for 23 years, you must have known about Sam."

"Well, he wouldn't come around a lot, but when he did, the boys were inseparable. They went on for days talking about historical conspiracies or interesting books or even girls like normal boys. As brothers, they looked out for each other. There was a loyalty that was never broken. It took years for me and Nate to get to that point in our relationship, so I might have been a little... jealous."

My audience smiles and coyly asks, "So I'm guessing you don't like Sam very much."

"Not in the least. He's all smiles and kind words when Nate's in the room, but when it's just the two of us, he can be a nasty son of a bitch. Just the other night, after narrowly escaping with our lives from a black market auction, he has the nerve to question my motives for tagging along with Nate."

"Uh-oh."

"Yeah, uh-oh!" I huff a sigh and shake my head. "But I know his aggression is just his way of protecting his little brother. They've been alone since they were five with only each other to rely on. Sam's used to being the sole protector of his brother, so when this guy with a crazy moustache and smelly cigars comes into the picture, claiming to be Nate's mentor, I'm sure it rubbed him the wrong way."

Elena wipes her eyes, then pinches the bridge of her nose. "Okay, but I still don't understand why Nate feels the need to go after this treasure with his brother. Is he really that much in debt?"

"As far as I'm aware, yes. Nate called me in the middle of the night, going on about Alcazar and Avery's treasure, so I at least know that Nate believes his brother's story. It was enough for me."

"I guess I just can't understand why he... why he lied to me. He's my husband. He's supposed to tell me everything. He's supposed to want to tell me everything. Is it me? Is it my insistence on a normal life, on forcing him to settle down? Does he not...?" She stops and presses a hand over her trembling lips. I've never seen her so worked up before. If I didn't love Nate to the ends of the earth and back, I would probably go sock him in the jaw.

"Sweetheart, he's just being an ass. There's no way to sugar coat it. But you have to at least consider the situation he's in. His big brother returns from the dead 15 years later, asking for Nate to help him buy his life back. This person who had always been there for him when times got tough, who would take a bullet for him in a heartbeat, is asking him for something that Nate would love to do anyway. Besides, you know the extent of Nate's loyalty to his friends, and it's doubly as strong when it's his family."

"But... we're family, too," Elena whispers. "I'm his wife and you're his... Sully. Can't he see that?"

"I'm sure he does," I assure her. "It's just going to take some time for the shock of his brother's resurrection to wear off. And when it does, we need to be there for him even if he treated us like shit. That's what family does."

She laughs and looks up at me. "Thank you, Sully. I needed this."

"No problem, sweetheart. I'm used to cleaning up Nate's messes."

"Oh, trust me, I'm right there with you," she rolls her eyes, then straightens up and presses her shoulders down. "We'll need to leave sometime tomorrow if we want to catch up with them."

I smirk as she stands and make her way to her laptop, most likely already going through a mental checklist of preparations. I just hope she remains my daughter-in-law by the end of this.