So I started this one right after finishing Drake's Deception way back in the day because the ending cutscene just felt so empty and tacked on as an afterthought... I could go on for days about all the ways U3 rubbed me wrong but the ending especially so. I have a hard time imagining how Elena was possibly convinced to drop everything and trust that Nate would have her without even speaking to him first, like there was a chance she'd get there and Sully's conversation didn't pan out the way he planned and she's all 'that's great guys I broke my rental agreement for this...' and did he not even care enough to say goodbye beforehand, when he thought he was going home without her? I dunno... even when they're finally together again and it's supposed to be a happy ending they don't even freaking kiss or anything, how disappointing was that. Anyway this started out intending to be nothing more than the sexy funtime porn-without-plot ending these two deserved, only I've come to realize that I cannot pull off a convincing PWP even if my life depended on it because the more explicit I made things the clunkier it sounded and the more of an awful messy turn-off it became, so I just let the dialogue take over and toned back the porno a bit and this is what's left. Nowhere near as sexy as I wanted but with the next (last?) game looming in the distance I really gotta kick my bad habit of sitting on these stories for years struggling over every little detail. As always everyone belongs to Naughty Dog, etc..

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Sunlight filtered through dusty windows made the sweat on the back of her neck sparkle like fresh snow. Sitting in the sun all morning had left the air in the cabin heavy with the kind of heat that made it easy to doze off however sleep wasn't exactly what he had in mind. Elena stiffened as he took her in his arms. "I'm hot," she complained, allowing him a kiss but resisting when he tried for more.

He was stiffening, too. "Hell yes you are. Wanna melt my popsicle?"

She tsked to remind him what she thought of his attempts at dirty talk. "Sully's right there, you know."

"Nah, he won't bother us." They were at the very back of the airplane while right there meant the cockpit- a million miles distance far as he was concerned. Elena groaned another protest at the removal of her belt but let him work on her fly without objection, shifting her hips and leaning into him instead of away to give grudging accommodation despite the heat. Her skin was impossibly soft beneath his fingers. "It's gonna be a long flight, and we've gotta make up for lost time."

Her nails dug in sharply as she yanked his hand away and twisted free, receptive to defensive in less than a heartbeat. Nathan felt like kicking himself. He always said the wrong thing, always made a joke long after he should have quit. This wasn't even the first time he had casually- happily, even- reminded her of their separation when he knew damn well how much grief the memory meant to her. "Elena, I'm sorry." He touched her shoulder, tried to make her look at him. "That was a dumb thing to say, I shouldn't have…"

No one wore righteous anger quite like her. She ignored the pressure of his hand for a long time, her own fists bunched up in denim to keep her jeans from falling even though he was pretty sure perspiration had the damp fabric stuck to her skin. Maybe that was just so she wouldn't hit him. When she finally faced him the pain in her eyes finished his thought where words had failed, worse than any punch. Left me. Hurt me. Broken your promise.

Elena was the best thing that had ever happened to him and he was a stupid steaming pile of crap for leaving her; he knew it, she knew it, Sully and Chloe and all their other friends knew it; Eddy and Flynn and that psycho bitch Marlowe were probably laughing their asses off in hell knowing it. "I'm sorry," he said again, at a loss for anything better.

The twin props on either wing sounded as if they were humming along in helpful agreement as she shifted gears again. "You better mean it this time- no more sweeping in and out of my life over and over, you can't just put me aside and then pick up where you left off whenever you want like it's no big deal, it's not like I had a job or anything else going on, you know, commitments-"

He had missed that headstrong nature of hers, that fierce determination when she had her mind made up. It was her absolute best personality trait and somehow also the most irritating. When she eventually paused for breath he covered her mouth with his own and she let it happen, even accepting his tongue instead of biting it off. It was a risk he was willing to take.

"Nate…" she warned as he tried his luck a second time, slipping beyond the cluster of fine curls to touch her down where she was soft and sweet. Elena grabbed his arm, squeezed her eyes shut. "Oh- that's not fair!"

"I love you." That felt so good to say he had to repeat it again and again to make up for all the times he should have said it lately. Instead of having the desired effect a storm cloud of sorrow seemed to dull the bright blue of her eyes and mute the edge in her voice when she responded in kind. He didn't like that or the sad way she said his name but it was easy enough to push aside his own feelings and give her the attention she deserved. Her neck tasted like salt and sunshine.

"I'm still mad at you," Elena growled. She sounded like a cat enjoying a nice belly rub just before it mauled your arm.

"I know." He could not believe he had gone this long without touching her, really touching her. The anticipation had him pressing against his zipper so hard it almost hurt. "You still want me to stop?"

This time when she dug her nails in it was in a good way. "Don't— no. Don't you dare."

"Forgive me?"

"Why should I?" She pressed the point even then, leaning into his hand when he was on the right track and guiding him back when he strayed just as her own words trailed off and eventually returned. Elena was nothing if not tenacious. "So you can get obsessed with something besides me the next time you… ooo— ow, not like that, up higher kinda-a-ah- the next- next time you read a b-book? So you can leave me behind to… mmm… to w-worry myself sick so you can go get… get killed over some worthless old thiiiiing? Ssssso you and Suh-Sully can make inside jokes and laugh… about the… the good oh- good old days… running with- with ChloeeeeEEE and— oh, God—aw, shit, Nate-"

Chloe, Chloe who, never heard of her. He was prepared to forget the rest of the universe and everyone in it, everything but their tiny enclosed section of sky if it meant this moment could go on forever. By the end she sagged against him as he supported most of her weight, stupidly proud of himself. At least he could do something right.

She was slippery wet and now the slightest motion of his fingers made her clench up tight and beg him to stop. She was always sensitive there, after. "Now do you forgive me?"

"What? No." Annoyance lingered in her breathless tone as she leaned in to kiss him, fumbling for his belt buckle. "You're still an ass, but it's a start. Take your shirt off."

It was no easy task getting him out of his jeans without bending or breaking anything. They wound up in opposite states of undress since thanks to the wonders of female anatomy she did not have the same option of keeping hers on for this part, and once he had her down to her shirt and wedding band and nothing else he could not remember ever seeing a more beautiful sight. He almost exploded before they even got started, easing into a rhythm that was comfortable for both of them amid the exceedingly gentle pace common to sex after a dry spell. It was nice to know she had not been with anyone recently, and this time he was smart enough to keep his thoughts to himself.

"You are my greatest treasure," Nathan panted afterward, too happy to care how cheesy that sounded.

But she was smiling at him like maybe he wasn't such a jackass after all, and he never wanted that to go away. He wished they could stay in the air making love until the end of time and never have to go back to the real world. Screw the real world.

"What's wrong?" Elena's voice was ragged from exertion, fringed with concern. "You look so sad all of a sudden."

He was uncomfortably hot and they were both smelly and gross but he was still not done needing to feel the heat of her skin on his. Nathan held on tight, kissed her breathless. "I missed you so much." The memory of his initial refusal to come to Yemen and everything else that had happened between them came creeping up again and instead of avoiding the ugly memories this time he held on to them, rolling them around in his head and letting the guilt sink in slowly. He'd been unable to stop the stupid from falling out of his mouth as soon as he had laid eyes on her, needling her for continuing to wear her ring as though that wasn't a sore spot. Even after all he had put her through she was somehow still willing to put herself in harm's way just to be at his side, making countless sacrifices in the interest of helping him, guiding him, putting him in his place when he needed it, telling him what he needed no hear no matter how much he hadn't wanted to listen. And the whole time the only ring on his mind was the one he used to wear around his neck, the same one she went back for all those years ago after he gave up hope and she'd kept him going and oh man was he a dumbass. "I'll make it up to you, I swear." It would be different this time. It has to be. "I'd do anything for you, Elena, I'd die for you if I had to, I'd-"

She made that funny little sound at the back of her throat that meant he'd said something stupid again- half snort; half laugh, all exasperation. "I don't want you to die, doofus, I want you to… oh, never mind." Elena had a penchant for quick recovery, whether from illness or insult or his eternal idiocy, and had not fallen out of practice from the way she distracted herself by spreading out their discarded clothing to put something between them and the floor. He was too busy staring at the shiny line of sweat collecting between her breasts and belly to realize what was happening until she was already on top of him.

"Again? I gotta rest." But he felt the familiar stirrings when she stroked him in all the right places and said she would do the work this time. He didn't have it in him to argue.

It was over too soon. Elena was asleep almost instantly, and where he normally would have made nonstop jokes lamenting what a boring lover he must be until she was annoyed enough to smack him, the last several days had been exhausting for all of them and he could not hold that against her. For a long while he just lay there as she slept, listening to the steady in and out of her breathing and the accompanying drone of the engines, enjoying the tingling sensation in his groin. When he closed his eyes he felt like he was floating.

She woke in darkness to sticky thighs and tangled hair and silence. With the black of night came a refreshing coolness to the air around her, washing away the stink of stale heat and sex, and mingled in was a whole new smell, something… salty? It felt so nice she was beginning to drift off again when the realization brought her surging to her feet- silence?- the plane swayed slightly as if in flight, but no sound came from either engine. Modesty went to hell as she ran for the cockpit wearing only the shirt she had fallen asleep in, unbuttoned and stiff with dried sweat.

There was no one there to see. Nor was she even in the air- white moonlight shone through the windshield from two sources, one being the actual moon and the other its reflection on rippling black water as the plane bobbed on the evening tide. Elena took a moment to appreciate the fact that she was not falling out of the sky but relief gave way to uncertainty just as quick. The side door opened onto a dock with the ocean at one end and a sandy stretch of beach on the other, both deserted.

Shit, they left me! Again! It hurt more than she expected it to. Of course he did, that's what he does, and Victor, too… I should have known. All those sweet words, even his wedding ring- just to get into my pants one last time, and I fell for it, because apparently that's what I do. The tears came sudden and unbidden as they always did when it was him, blurring her vision and making her angry at her own weakness. She hated how helpless he could make her feel when she took pride in being anything but. Elena cursed herself in every language she knew and twisted the ring from her left hand before she could talk herself out of it. This was the last time he would ever leave her on the edge of a damn dock.

Regret crashed over her like a tidal wave the instant it vanished beneath the black water. Without the slight weight around her finger a piece of her was gone forever. That stuff about it helping in less liberal parts of the world when he'd teased her for still wearing it was to avoid having to admit that she could not bear to take it off, could hardly stand the sight of the thin line where the sun missed her skin beneath for the bitter reminder of what she refused to give up as he had.

Elena felt utterly lost until she remembered they had also abandoned the airplane. How hard could it be to fly this thing out of here? See how he likes getting left in my dust for a change.

She bumped into someone as she spun back the way she'd come and lost her balance trying to defend herself. Nate easily caught her, pulling her in for a hug.

"Hey, hey- it's just me, didn't mean to scare you... I was hoping you'd be up, Sully just put the fish on but the veggies and stuff are just about done," he said, and she could not see him clearly through a fresh wave of tears but she heard the grin in his voice, how happy he sounded as he gestured at the beach beyond the plane. An ocean breeze snapped inland, scattering sparks from the blurry red glow of a fire she had evidently missed before. "Not that I'm complaining but you might wanna get dressed first, he can probably see you from... are you- what's wrong?"

When she told him what she had assumed he was far more apologetic than she deserved, admitting it would have been better to wake her once they'd landed instead of letting her sleep and expressing gentle doubt in her abilities to hotwire twin-engine aircraft. Then she told him what she had done and Nate stared at her with an expression she could not read.

"I wasn't thinking straight, I woke up and everyone was gone and I thought, I don't know…" Saying it out loud made her feel like such a fool. She was forever denying accusations of poor impulse control, arguing that he never thought far enough ahead while willfully ignoring the exact same flaw in herself. There was no running from the truth this time. "I wish I-"

"Where?" he asked, looking at the water. She could not tell if he was angry with her or not. "How far'd you throw it?"

Elena shivered and drew her shirt tighter around herself as the wind grazed her unprotected legs. "Just there, right off the end. I'm so sorry, Nate, I wasn't thinking," she repeated, but he wasn't listening. He pulled off his shoes, unbuckled his belt. "Wait- what are you-?" But she knew. Once he was down to his birthday suit- moonlight defining every muscle and looking like something out of a graphic exhibition on fertility idols for crying out loud- he motioned where she had with an expectant look back at her. She could only nod, knowing she could never stop him once his mind was set and not entirely certain how to feel about that.

Nate stepped off and disappeared with a gentle slop of water across the boards at her feet. In the quiet that followed she considered searching the plane for a flashlight to help him out, hesitating because she didn't want to be gone when he came back up. By the time he resurfaced she still hadn't come to a solid decision. "Please don't worry about it, at least 'til morning when we have more light- or I'll just pay for a new one, it was my own fault," she tried to tell him as he sucked in a series of deep breaths.

"No," was all he said before diving back down again. Elena could only wait and listen to the rush of the surf and the airplane rocking at its ties for what seemed like a long time. Then he was back, flashing her the smile that had won her heart. Moonlight glinted off the silver band between his teeth.

"You're crazy," she told him once her husband stood naked and dripping at her side and her ring was back where it belonged.

"Hey, you married me. Now who's the crazy one?" Nate grinned. When he collected his clothes and put an arm around her on the way back to the plane the wind bit at the wet spot he left behind and made her shiver, but his kiss was safe and warm. "C'mon, let's find you some pants and get over by the fire, I'm starving."