Something Good

You never know when you're going to meet someone

And your whole wide world in a moment, comes undone.

"Shit! Elena get down!"

"Wha-? Ooof!" Nate's weight landed on top of her, driving the air out of her body. "Nate, what on eart-" she found herself glaring at his arms as they shielded her from an explosion which tore through the nearby rocks, sending debris flying in all directions. His weight adjusted on top of her as he glanced around, checking it was safe to get up again before sending a few shots in the direction the grenade had flown from. There was a groan accompanied by a loud thud, which seemed to satisfy Nate that they weren't in immediate danger any longer. He jumped to his feet and offered Elena his hand, pulling her upright too.

"Sorry about that," he chuckled to himself, sheepishly rubbing at the back of his neck.

"It's fine, I suppose I owe you one." Elena sighed, dusting herself down as she bent to grab her gun from the floor. Well, it wasn't hers per say, but apparently associating with Nathan Drake brought more than a few dangers along with it, and having a gun on her person was a comfort at the very least. She could see Nate watching her from the corner of her eye, concern drawing his brow together.

"You okay?" he inquired, watching her for her reaction.

"Yeah I'm fine. As I seem to remember telling you, it's nothing a coupl'a years of therapy won't fix." she said lightly, her voice masking the low-key panic that had lodged itself in her gut since the gun fight had started.

"You're tougher than you look, Elena Fisher." he laughed, nodding his head toward the direction they had been walking in before the grenade had detonated. "Ready to advance?" he asked, a grin pulling at the corners of his mouth.

"Oh of course! I can't wait to be shot at again." she said with a roll of her eyes, smiling when she caught his gaze.

Nate sniggered before leading the way, one hand hovering near his holster.

They weaved their way though the ruined city, hopping over large areas of rubble and stone. It was hard to tell from the damage whether the building had suffered an encounter with explosives or if it had given away naturally. The sound of a river rushing wildly grew louder and louder the deeper into the ruins they travelled and the sun began to paint the architecture with golden hues as it began its descent in the sky, the heat from earlier in the day dissipating along with it.

"C'mon, we can't be far now," Nate said, stepping carefully out around the corner of a derelict building. He stood scouting out the area before turning and waving a hand at Elena, indicating she should follow. "It's clear."

But Nate couldn't see the small red dot trained on his head.

Without thinking, Elena ran out and grabbed his arm, pulling him back behind the shelter of the building.

"Hey, what was that in aid of?" he asked as his back bumped against the solid stone.

"The coast isn't clear." Elena said simply, ducking down behind a pile of rubble. She cautiously peeked over it, scanning the second floor windows for potential nests the sniper might have been using.

Nate joined her, crouching down and pulling the long gun off his back.

They waited and nothing appeared; no a sign of a wandering guard patrol, nor the sniper that Elena was so sure she'd seen. Nate went to walk out into the open again but was tugged back by Elena. "Nate, there's someone out there." she said urgently, gripping his arm hard in a bid to stop him moving.

"I'll be fine," he said, his voice oozing confidence. "I'm just going to go over to that pillar," he pointed toward one of the old decorative columns which were propping up a balcony. "I might be able to draw out their fire, and if I do, you can start shooting them."

Reluctantly, she agreed, and let him go.

He snuck back out into the open again, gun still in hand as he made his way quickly to the pillar. Elena watched keenly, her eyes flying over details of the architecture, looking for likely sniper nests. She looked back at Nate who was now dashing to the next pillar and then back to the surrounding buildings, this time spotting movement behind one of the overgrown roof garden bushes. She frowned, and slowly pulled the gun from the waistband of her jeans.

She focused on the spot where she assumed the sniper to be, and pointed her gun at it when she saw something push through the greenery. She pulled the trigger and saw the figure stagger, although not enough to allow her a shot which could finish him off, and he returned fire. She ducked down and tried to find Nate, who was now sneaking forward through the maze of debris. Throwing caution to the wind, she shot in the same direction as before and heard a pained yelp in response, a head appearing through the bushes. She squeezed the trigger again and watched as the man slumped forward, his body resting in the greenery he had been hiding in.

She took a deep breath to calm her nerves. Nothing a coupl'a years of therapy won't fix. Elena was beginning to get the feeling it might take more than a couple of years. When she had managed to slow her breathing and still her shaking hands, she peeked over her cover and made a dash toward the pillar Nate had first gone to, following the path he'd made across the area as best as she could remember. He was waiting by a narrow passage which led down toward another built up area. The roar of the river and its rapids were louder here and Elena could only assume they were getting closer to the temple that Nate had been speaking of.

"There's more of Eddy's goons down there." he whispered as she joined him on the opposite side of the entryway.

Elena nodded and leaned against the wall. "How do you want to go about this one, then?" she asked, glancing down the passage and spotting a group of men positioned around the area, and a glimpse of the river in the background.

"There's four of them from what I can see. If I go after the two furthest away from here, think you can handle the two nearest the entryway?" he asked, calculating the strategy with a frown.

"Uh, yeah, sure." she replied, grabbing the gun and taking cover fully against the wall adjoining the passageway.

"On my count then," Nate whispered, glancing at their targets once more. "Three,"

Elena took aim at the one nearest the entryway.

"Two,"

She squeezed the trigger and-

"One!"

BANG!

The guard she'd been aiming at staggered, clutching at his chest which was now blossoming with red. She readied herself to aim for the next one.

"Good girl!" Nate managed to fit in before the next gun sounded, shots being returned blindly by the men below them. Elena managed to take down her second target without too much difficulty, and soon she and Nate were stealthily – as stealthily as one could having revealed their location and proved a threat – creeping down the passageway. Nate stopped at the end and held out an arm to prevent Elena going any further.

"I'm going to take cover behind those boxes, okay? You cover me from here."

She could tell by the tone of his voice that this wasn't a suggestion. "Got it." she affirmed, watching as he slipped toward the crates he'd indicated earlier.

The two remaining guards were hovering behind the pillars holding up a decorative piece of brick work, and occasionally peeking around them before firing a shot. She waited for one of them to appear, training her gun on the spot where they should emerge. She noticed one of the guards swing suddenly out from his hiding place, trying to throw Nate from his back. The other guard appeared shortly after, training his own gun at the struggling pair. Nate's arm jerked violently, and the man he was fighting groaned loudly before falling to the ground. Elena felt her finger squeezing around the trigger as she took aim at the remaining guard when Nate managed to knock the gun from his hand and deliver a devastating kick, sending the man sprawling in the mud of the riverbank.

Despite the situation and the conflicting feelings their task brought her, Elena found herself smiling proudly at the man whom she'd only known for the last few weeks. Nate really was something…

He grinned back at her as she approached him; as though he was proud of her for what she had managed to do, too. Elena didn't think too much of it though, she was busy appreciating the way the fading light was playing about his face.

"That takes care of that." he said smugly, wandering over to the edge of the river.

"What now?" she asked, pulling up alongside him and gazing skyward at the pinky-purple colours cast by the setting sun.

"Well, the monastery should be that way," he said, pointing upstream. Elena couldn't help noticing the rather violent looking rapids they would more than likely have to face. "We can use this jetski." Nate wandered over to the small marine vehicle and stooped to start to untie the rope mooring it to dry land.

"Hold up Nate," she protested, putting a hand on his arm when he seemed to ignore her.

"What?" he asked, aiming a slight pout in her direction.

"Shouldn't we rest or something? I mean, it's going to take us a while to get up those rapids, and it's nearly nightfall, who knows what we'll meet up there in the dark."

He looked at her for a second before sighing and rising to his feet. "Okay, we'll rest here for now, but we're heading up those rapids like it or not in the morning."

"That's fine," Elena smiled. "I just want some sleep before we tackle any more challenges."

Nate laughed and shook his head. "That's understandable," he pointed to two canvas shapes stuffed beside a pile of rubble. "These two here seem to have left backpacks, fancy having a camp-fire dinner?" he asked coyly, grinning as confusion flashed across Elena's face.

"How do you even know they've got food?" she asked, watching as he pulled a black, well-worn looking rucksack from the floor. He prised it open and held it out for Elena to see. He hadn't been wrong.

"Provisions," he said knowingly. "Everyone should send at least one person in a group with provisions. Seems they weren't quite as dumb as we gave them credit for."

"Huh," Elena mused, peeking inside the bag when he held it out to her.

"Beans or uh, cup-a-soups sound good?" he asked sheepishly, pulling out a tin and gesturing to the sachets of soup powder among other things in the bag.

"Whatever you fancy," she said helpfully. "I'm starving enough to eat anything." She followed Nate as he started walking back up the entryway they'd recently vacated.

"We'll set up camp back through here," He called over his shoulder to her. "Mainly 'cause I'm sure there was a nice little spot that'll make a great fire but also so we don't have to sleep near those guys."

Elena tried unsuccessfully to repress a shudder at the thought of sharing the same sleeping space as Raja's men. At least Nate was being considerate, and leading her away from a campsite that would really give her some problems when it came to resting peacefully.

All my scars don't seem to matter anymore;

They led me here to you.

When her stomach was no longer voicing complaints about how long it had gone without food, Elena stretched out by the fire. They'd found flasks, a foldable pan and water bottles in the bag, along with some squashed and slightly stale bread which had made for a meagre meal. The sun had long since sank beyond the horizon, and their fire cast flickering shadows as they talked.

"You really got chased by a bunch of circus employees?" Elena snorted involuntarily. Nate had been entertaining her for the past hour or so with various stories about his and Sully's escapades.

"Yeah, it was pretty terrifying. Especially the acrobats, boy can those guys move! Sully told me we were going to see some kind of circus so of course I was excited, I thought we were going to watch the damn show. Except as soon as we got in, he had me stand guard as he snuck back stage to look for some heirloom they were supposed to be carrying with them." Nate said, his eyebrows raised and a grin pulling at his lips.

"And you got caught?" Elena laughed.

"Yeah, they found us squabbling over which was the fastest exit. And then we had to explain why we were back stage in the first place when we were supposed to have come to watch the show. Turns out 'we got lost' isn't a valid argument when they can see their property in your bag." he said, raking a hand through his hair.

"What happened next?" Elena pressed.

"It wasn't going too badly until Sully cracked a joke that the midget clowns took the wrong way. They all suddenly gained this cut-throat look and Sully just lowers the heirloom to the floor and we ran."

"Sounds… is fun the word I'm looking for?" Elena laughed, it was so easy to imagine Nate and Sully fleeing from an angry mob.

"Oh yeah, it was fantastic." he deadpanned, shaking his head at her as she giggled again. "We managed to escape thankfully, and I eventually managed to convince Sully that whatever valuable artefact they were supposedly in possession of was not worth challenging them for when they could feed us to their lion or something." he shook his head again. "Sully always gets these 'bright' ideas when we're some place exotic… must be the heat getting to him or something."

"Well you can't pin the blame entirely on him, you're usually with him when he gets the ideas by the sound of things." Elena sniggered, her hand shooting out to balance herself as Nate shoved her playfully.

"I suppose not," he said, poking at the fire with a stick. "But most of the time it's his idea."

"Like following the clues left in Sir Francis Drake's journal now?"

"Hm, we're both responsible for that one. Although, it's completely Sully's fault that we ended up having to race these idiots to wherever the treasure may be." Nate grinned again, dropping the stick and stretching. "I'm sorry I got you caught up in this Elena." he said, his eyes closed as though he was in fear of what she might reply.

"Nate, I don't-"

"And about your camera."

"Yeah, it is a shame about the camera..." she sighed, glancing over at him and then up at what was visible of the stars past the glow of their camp fire. "But, if we actually do find El Dorado then it'll all be worth it, right? We'll be the first ones there and I could report all the details of how we discovered it and retrace our journey. It won't be the same as a live action programme but still, the Golden Man has got to be worth some screen time."

She heard him laugh low in his throat, adjusting himself into a cross legged position beside her. "We're getting Sully and then we're getting out of here, Golden Man or not," he said, his expression smooth and unreadable. "I've put you in enough danger as it is, and if something happened to you like it did to Sully... I don't know what I'd do."

"Shoot the bastard who grabbed me, I hope." she offered jokingly, her smile fading when she caught the look on his face. "Nate, it's fine. This whole thing has been pretty exciting really, and I can hold my own. Stop worrying and find the treasure."

He stared at her for a moment as if contemplating saying something else but then he looked away. "I know you can," he murmured, glancing up at her again from under his lashes. Elena felt something stir in her stomach as she looked at him. Is he trying to use a smoulder on me..? Oh God, it's working. He's got to have practised that in the mirror, there's no way a guy could pull that face without knowing he looked damn good doing it. "But promise me you'll be careful, okay? I, er, don't want to lose you."

Elena raised her eyebrows at him, her lips pulling upward in a smile as she felt her cheeks warm. "You have my word, Mr Drake. And if I didn't know any better I'd say that you seem to have grown rather fond of me."

Nate's eyes widened a fraction and he smirked, a look that sent the butterflies that seemed to have settled in Elena's stomach fluttering again. "And so what if I have, Miss Fisher?" he asked, leaning closer to her. He was hovering inches away, his heat warming the air between them as they sat holding each other's gaze.

"Well, I guess that's a good thing." she whispered, her gaze flicking between his grey eyes and his mouth.

"A very good thing." he breathed, his hand coming up tentatively to stroke her cheek.

Elena's eyes fluttered shut at his touch and before she knew what was happening, Nate's stubble was tickling her chin, his lips gently pressing a kiss on her own. Elena gasped quietly against his mouth, taking a moment to think about returning the kiss just as carefully, testing to see what his next move would be. They broke apart after a second or two, both watching for the other's reaction.

Nate's lips quirked upward and he leaned back in, his hands pulling her back to him.

Their second kiss was more heated, much more assured as he pressed his lips back to hers. Elena's hands slid to his chest, grabbing his ring on its leather cord before tugging as close as she could. She felt him grin against her lips before he moved back to press fleeting kisses along her jaw line and neck, never resting too long in one place. He worked his way back toward her face, teasing her with his lips as he kissed everywhere but where she really wanted him to. Elena gave a frustrated groan and caught sight of Nate smiling smugly before he sank back into her mouth.

His tongue traced her bottom lip, seeking admittance. She hesitated for a second, before adjusting her head to deepen the angle of the kiss and opening her mouth. Nate used a combination of heated, passionate kisses and shy, gentle ones, both of which sent warmth spreading through her in waves, pooling in her lower stomach. She caught his lower lip between her teeth before he had a chance to capture her mouth again and nibbled gently. This elicited a hushed moan from him as his hands glided around her waist and gently lowered her onto her back. His touch was addictive, and she felt like she needed to get closer. Elena tugged on the ring she still had clasped in one hand, pulling him down against her.

They were kissing rather passionately when a loud flapping sound caused them to jump apart, both of them looking ruffled and flustered. A group of bats flew over head, their inky outlines blurring into one shadowy cloud moving through the already ebony night sky. They looked sheepishly at each other, grinning before returning to a sitting position.

"So, that was…" Elena said, shaking her head when she realised she couldn't think of any words to quite describe that.

"That was really something." Nate finished for her with a chuckle.

I know that it's going to take some time

I've got to admit that the thought has crossed my mind that this might end up like it should.

To Elena's surprise, she didn't feel nearly as awkward as she thought she would after having made out with Nate. They'd chatted for a little while longer before he'd suggested they try and get some sleep; a suggestion which she was more than willing to comply with. The fire had dwindled to embers which clung fragilely to the charred wood, fighting to stay lit against the chilly air which swept across Elena's skin. Nate didn't seem to be having a problem sleeping in the cold: he was sprawled out next to her, mouth hanging open slightly and snoring gently.

She supposed it was the difference in the layers of clothing they had on; hers being considerably lighter than his. She sighed as she rolled onto her side face him properly, wondering what he was dreaming about. She shamelessly allowed herself to study his face, his high cheekbones, his eyes brows which even in sleep seemed to be tugged together in the beginnings of a frown, his strong jaw and the stubble dusting it. Her gaze lingered on his mouth, his mouth which not too long ago had been playfully teasing her... God, he really is attractive…

"Elena… didn't anyone ever tell you it's rude to stare?"

Crap.

She noticed belatedly that Nate's eyes were half open, watching her watch him. Elena felt a blush flowing straight to her cheeks and she started stuttering an excuse. "I, er, I-I wasn't, I… I'm sorry. I didn't wake you did I?" she managed to ask eventually, meeting his eyes which sparkled with an amused twinkle.

"Something did, I don't know if it was your staring though." he said, smirking at her. Elena bit her lip. "How come you're awake?"

"I, um, I'm a little bit cold." she muttered, the embarrassment of having been caught staring pulsing though her.

There was a moment's pause where it didn't look like either of them was going to speak and then Nate broke the silence with an almost timid sounding, "Well if that's the case, we could… snuggle if you wanted?"

Elena's attention snapped back to the dark haired man at her side. "What?" she asked. Surely she hadn't heard that right?

"If you wanted to we could snuggle?" he suggested again, sounding even more hesitant this time. "Only if you wanted to, of course. It would probably keep you from feeling the chill."

Elena stared at him for a second, a smile threatening to tug at her lips. "Okay, if you're sure." she said, sitting up and shuffling over to him, lying back down alongside him. She felt her heartbeat jump and her breathing quicken as he pulled her into his arms, letting her use his chest as a make-shift pillow. Elena touched her hands to his chest, resting her head against him. "Thank you," she whispered, glancing up at him.

He pressed a quick kiss to her forehead, and then ducked his head down further to plant one on the tip of her nose. "No problem," he whispered back, smiling as she took the lead and pressed her lips gently to his. "Now, get some rest."

This time, she had no problems drifting off to sleep. The chill of the night air didn't affect her, not whilst Nate had her tucked against his side. For the first time in what felt like a long time, Elena felt completely safe.

I'm going to say what I need to say and hope to God that I don't scare you away

Don't want to be misunderstood

"Off up the rapids we go then?" Elena asked, helping Nate cram all the gear back into the backpack they'd borrowed from their make shift camp site. He'd stamped on the remains of their camp fire to make sure that it was definitely out after they'd relit it to boil some water from a little stream that trickled through the ruins on its way to the river. Nate handed her one of their newly acquired water bottles for the journey.

"Off up the rapids." he affirmed cheerfully, swinging the backpack onto his back and ruffling Elena's hair gently.

Elena pouted, poking him indignantly in the chest.

They started to walk toward the entryway leading down to the river and Nate extended a hand out toward her, which she took happily. They dumped the bag behind one of the piles of rubble and headed over to the jetski, Nate helping Elena on before climbing on himself.

"Got your gun ready?" he asked as she wrapped her arms around his waist. She nodded, then realising he probably couldn't see her doing so, said;

"Yep."

"Good, 'cause you just know we're going to run into something up there." Nate said dryly, starting up the engine.

"So the plan's still the same as yesterday?" she grinned.

"Yep, we either rescue him or we beat the crap out of him." Nate replied, chuckling as he revved the jetski. Their laughs rang out together as they set off up the rapids. What lay ahead of them might have been uncertain, but for Elena, it was an adventure she was really looking forward to embarking on.

But I'm starting to believe that this could be the start of something good.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed this. It's my first time attempting an Uncharted fic, I've been inspired by the amount of great Nate/Elena fics on here c: this little plot bunny wouldn't leave me alone to work on some of the stuff I've already got on the go, so here we are. Nate and Elena fluff.

I hope to write some more about them because I had a lot of fun writing this. I just hope I've managed to keep the character's reasonably in-character.

Let me know if you like it, feedback is a writer's creative fodder after all :')

And last but not least −

DISCLAIMER

I don't own Uncharted or Nate or Elena, that honour is Naughty Dog's.

Oh, and the song lyrics interspacing the time jumps, that's "Start of Something Good" by Daughtry. Not my favourite by them, but it seemed to fit this really well. xD

EDIT 16.1.16

Decided to give this fic a much needed rework. I've improved a lot and wanted to edit this to utilise more showing rather than telling haha. The plot's still exactly the same, I've just edited it. Thanks for reading, hopefully I'll have some more Uncharted fics up soon!