The harsh sun blinded him as soon as the deck door was opened, and Rafe was unceremoniously shoved forward before he had time to adjust. This was the first time he had seen direct sunlight in months. Even when he was transported aboard the ship it was dark outside. He sneezed violently in reaction and held up his arms to shade his eyes.

"This way," one of his escorts commanded, pushing him in the right direction.

Rafe stumbled forward without complaint. He wasn't going to give them any more reason to enjoy this than they already had. Once his eyes adjusted he was able to make out the blurry forms on the loading dock across from them. One was Nadine Ross, that treacherous bitch. He was so fucking close to the treasure and she- He took a deep breath. Anger right now wasn't going to help him with anything; he just had to make it through the game.

Speaking intently with Nadine was Victor Sullivan, chomping on a cigar as usual. Sully was alright; Rafe really didn't have any grudges against him. He just wished he had found the smuggler before more… tarnished people had. He seemed like a loyal person to have on your side, and surprisingly useful for his age. If those two were the only ones waiting there for him, he might even look forward to the rest of the day. Infuriatingly, that was not the case.

Next to Victor, huffing on a cigarette, was the last person in the world Rafe wanted to see, save through cross-hairs. His stomach began to churn with hate just from the sight of him. Samuel Drake- the man who had betrayed him not once, but three times, who humiliated him in front of an army and destroyed his dreams and ambitions with one step on a pressure plate. Samuel. Rafe seethed and had to take a moment to regain his composure. The last few months had been unpleasant, but now that he was actually here seeing that man, he'd much rather be back down in his cell being taunted by the guards. Somehow on the walk from the deck to the dock he was able to school his features back into a calm, even pleasant expression.

"Here he is," Nadine spoke up at his approach, "No harm done, just like I promised."

"Nadine," Rafe smiled, "You look lovely as always. It's funny, I stayed at your place that whole time and not once did you come to visit me."

"Rafe," she smiled back sweetly, but Rafe could see the bitterness that she was trying to cover up, "If I'd had my way, I never would have seen you again."

"And we both would have been happy for that," Rafe nodded and held out a hand to Victor. Well, two hands- handcuffs only allowed so much distance between them. "Sully. I understand that I have you to thank for this… arrangement." He cocked his head and ground the last word out, but kept his polite smile on.

"Not just me," Sully commented, shaking his hand. Most of his attention was focused on looking Rafe over for any obvious signs of abuse. He couldn't see all of his skin, but nothing seemed to be wrong with the kid, aside from his expected attitude towards the whole thing. With how pissed off Nadine had been on the island he had been expecting a lot worse, and he was glad that that wasn't the case.

Rafe was a bit of an asshole, sure, but Sully had seen others become obsessed with something to the point where they went over the edge. Two prime examples came to mind right away; the fanatical gene ran very strongly in the Drake family. He didn't think the kid was inherently bad, just a bit… misled, which was understandable. Sully knew his parents, and while they were charming, they were also very unpleasant people. He couldn't imagine being raised by them. But, hey, lots of people had crappy childhoods. Normally he couldn't be bothered to give a rats ass about something like that, except that Sam had put himself out on a limb for this, and then Nate had thrown in those damn puppy eyes, and he found himself advocating for Rafe's life. That was the only reason he was here, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to do it right.

He looked past Rafe at the guards. "You can uncuff him, you know."

"No," Nadine spoke up. "We'll give you the keys once we've unloaded everything, and you can do that yourself when we're long gone from here."

"Well, it was a nice thought anyway." Rafe turned away from Victor towards the third party on the dock. He plastered his biggest, most charming grin on his face. The other man immediately stiffened up and looked like he was rehearsing a speech in his mind. "Samuel Drake." In one swift, practiced motion, Rafe drew his fists up and swung them at Sam's face. They connected where his cheekbone met his nose, and Sam stumbled backwards, his cigarette flying from his mouth.

There were a dozen guns aimed at Rafe's head in an instant. He chose to ignore them. "Man, was that satisfying," he smirked, "I can't tell you how long I've been wanting to do that."

"Already, Rafe?" Sully looked at him with exasperation. He wasn't making it easier to keep him alive. "Don't. Move. Sam, you ok?"

"I'm fine," Sam answered unconvincingly after he regained his balance. He ran his fingers over the spot where he was hit, and when he drew them back there was blood. He closed his eyes and sighed. Why was he here, again? They had been expecting a backlash of sorts when they first planned this and he had tried to convince Victor that it'd be better if he stayed in the house, but the other man had disagreed. He had said that it was better to get it over with when there were others there to restrain Rafe if necessary- and maybe that was true. "You can put your guns away," he called out, "I can handle it."

Rafe's eyes flashed. "If you were smart you'd let them handle it. I told you what I'd do to you and your brother if I got free. Oh, and for the record," he leaned in closer, "You won't be able to embarrass me the same way twice. That trick at the bay? Won't work now."

Sam drew himself up to his full height and fixed Rafe with a look. He didn't realize it, but it was the exact same look he gave Nathan when he was acting up when they were younger. He was sorely tempted to take Rafe up on that remark. "I wasn't planning on it," he said calmly, "Just keep quiet and let the adults talk, alright? None of us want this to drag on any longer than it has to." When he was sure that Rafe's temper had passed, he reached in his back pocket for a handkerchief and held it against his face. "Nadine, you want to get your men busy?"

"Pardon me for not wanting to leave you alone with him," Nadine rolled her eyes, then nodded towards her soldiers. "Start unloading and bring everything to the house. Victor will show you where to put it."

The unloading process took the better part of an hour. The whole time Rafe stood silently with his guards, pointedly ignoring Samuel, who for some reason had decided to stay behind with them as well. He didn't move or open his mouth again, and he told himself that it was because it would help nothing at this point and not because he was afraid of what would happen if he did. He may have said he wouldn't be embarrassed like that again, but he was pretty sure that it would be worse a second time.

Once the process was over Nadine ordered her men back on the ship and they were gone without a second glance. The three men were left standing alone on the dock.

Sully fished in his pocket and held up a key, looking at Rafe. "Before I unlock you, let me explain your situation. We are on an island, and it's not a big one with a lot of hiding places. There is no other land within swimming distance, and we have no boat. The only means of communication we have is a short wave radio locked on one channel, Nadine's. Her men will only answer if we give a specific code. Trying to overpower us or run away won't gain you anything. Do you understand?"

"I understand that that's what you want me to think, yes," Rafe smiled innocently and held his wrists out. "But why would I ever do a thing like that? Out of all the people here, I think I'm the only one who never ran away from his problems." What Sully didn't realize was that at this point, Rafe didn't need a long term plan of escape. He just needed the chance to get some revenge. But, for his revenge to be complete, he needed one more person to be here, so it would just have to wait for the other Drake to show up.

"Yeah, and you're also the only one who's here against his will," Sam spoke up with annoyance in his voice. "Just promise to behave." He had smoked his way through several more cigarettes at this point, and his face had just stopped bleeding. Right now he only wanted to fix it up and maybe have a beer. Or three. And smoke another pack, just to make it to nightfall. Sully thought today was going to be the hardest, but Sam would put money on tomorrow when Rafe learned exactly how things were going to be in this house, so he wanted to be well-recovered by then.

Rafe cocked his head to the side. "Did I hear something?"

"Really?" Sam scoffed. "The silent treatment? How old are you?"

"Boys, be civil." Sully unlocked Rafe's cuffs and tossed them off the dock, along with the key. He might regret not having them, but he was sure he didn't want something like that in the house where Rafe could get to it. "Let's get inside so you can see the house they set us up with. You look like you could do with a shower and a shave too."

"You have no idea," Rafe rubbed his wrists.

Forty minutes later Rafe was looking at himself in the mirror, feeling much cleaner. He had washed himself off and just finished shaving. The clothes they'd left for him were… Well, they looked like they'd be more comfortable than he ones he'd had in Nadine's prison, anyway. They weren't his first choice and they probably wouldn't fit well, but they were enough.

He felt naked without a weapon, or at least something he could use to protect himself, so he was trying to prise the razor from its plastic handle when there was a knock on the door.

"Rafe?"

It was Sully. "What do you want?" he called back, tossing the razor into the sink.

"Come to the kitchen when you're done in there and tell Sam what you want to eat. He's ready to start dinner."

In other words, he was spending too much time in there and they wanted to make sure he wasn't up to something. "If Samuel's the one cooking then I don't want any of it." He got the weird visual of Sam in an apron and pushed it out of his mind immediately, shuddering.

"Well if you don't give him a suggestion, you're stuck with whatever he feels like making."

Rafe rolled his eyes. No, he couldn't trust his tastes. "Do you have salad or anything like that?"

"Salad?" He could hear Sully's indignance in his voice. "What the hell kind of dinner is that?"

Rafe closed his eyes and groaned to himself, letting his head sink down. "I'll be out in a minute."

After he opened the fridge and spoke his food preferences loudly to no one in particular, Rafe spent most of the evening 'getting settled' in his room. The first few hours were used up by searching every nook and cranny. If he was going to live here then he wanted to know his full situation, and there was always the chance that they had overlooked something. Plus, he wanted to know if there was anything weird like cameras or mics hidden anywhere.

No such luck, but at least he knew which drawer had his underwear in it.

He didn't have a lot of his own things with him, but he had plenty of things that were there for his use. Clothes that, like the ones he had slipped on after his shower, were cheap but comfortable enough. They weren't what he was used to but they kept him covered. At least they weren't prison clothes or, god forbid, children's clothes. He hadn't learned the exact deal Sully had made with Nadine in regards to his continued existence, but there were plenty of rumors circulating around her crew. Very disturbing rumors. He knew Sam well enough and had heard things about Sully that made him dismiss what the soldiers told him, but it was still a relief that he hadn't found any evidence to prove them right.

The rest of his evening was spent resting on his bed, turning the situation over in his mind. He'd had months to make guesses, but now that he was actually here he could consider the facts. Admittedly, this bed was much comfier than the ones he'd had the past month. He could get used to this house, if a certain someone wasn't staying under the same roof. It'd be a good place to lay low for a while. He'd already placed an employee he trusted in charge of his business before he even got Sam out of jail, so he knew he didn't have to worry about it. Well, trust was a strong word. He just knew that this woman would make smart business decisions, as she had proven plenty of times before, and he knew she wouldn't double cross him because he had too much dirt on her that he wasn't afraid to use.

Dinner came and went. He sat at the table with them and stared down at his salad as he ate. He only gave single word replies to any conversation Sully tried to start, and he refused to acknowledge Samuel at all. He did glance at him once, and saw that he had patched up the cut he'd given him earlier, and there was a bruise forming in the tissue around it. Good. If Sam patched it, then it was more than a simple cut, and that meant whatever risk he took earlier was worth it.

They didn't seem to be planning anything in retaliation, which made Rafe suspicious, but if they were trying to lure him into a false sense of security they had another thing coming. Rafe Adler did not let his guard down, ever. The only reason he had been captured in the first place was because he was overwhelmed, not because they caught him with his pants down.

At ten Sully knocked on his door again. "Can I come in?"

"Well, it is your house," Rafe replied, keeping his eyes on the wall.

The door opened and Sully appeared in the entrance. "I just wanted to let you know that you're going to be locked in here at night and the door won't be opened again until seven in the morning, so if you need to use the bathroom then you should use it now."

Rafe flicked his gaze at the older man. "Tell me again why this is better than prison?"

"Because here you won't be able to bribe the guards," Sully answered, then smirked, "You're also less likely to be killed in your sleep. Do you need to go or are you good?"

Rafe thought about telling Sully he was fine to get rid of him, but he had just been in a place where the toilet was in his room for the past few months and he'd gotten too used to using it whenever he needed to. His bladder might not forgive him if he made it wait until the morning.

"I'll use it," he sighed, pushing himself off the bed. "Just don't hover at the door."

"Yeah, sure, like I wanted to hear whatever you're doing in there."

Rafe started awake when he heard a key turning in the lock on his door. It stayed closed, and footsteps moved along down the hallway. He glanced at his clock; 7:00 am exactly.

Damn it, when had he fallen asleep? He had planned to stay awake all night, to learn the sounds of the house when no one was up and about, and to hear what anybody had done if they stirred. He had to know this place like the back of his hand if he ever wanted to take advantage of it.

It was the damn bed's fault. If the stupid thing wasn't so comfortable then he wouldn't have succumbed to sleep. They probably planned it that way, making sure he had to sleep every night so-

No. He took a deep breath and let the waking rational part of his mind take over. No, they weren't smart enough to do something like that. The reason the bed was so comfortable was because they wanted him to think they were his friends, not his enemies. It was basic psychological warfare, and he wasn't going to fall for it. If he wanted to stay awake all night then he'd have to sleep on the floor. It'd be good for him anyway; it was obvious his body was in need of some re-training.

He pushed back his bed covers and opened a drawer to find something to wear. If his door was unlocked, he assumed he was allowed to go and get himself something to eat.

Five minutes later he was walking down the hallway towards the kitchen. He could hear something sizzling in a pan, and he could smell… Ugh. Bacon. The thought of eating it was enough to make his stomach churn.

"Oh, you're up." Sam was a bit surprised to see their 'prisoner' walking around so early. He would have thought Rafe'd hole himself up in his room again until someone told him he had to come and eat. Sully wasn't even up yet- hopefully that wasn't going to be a problem. His nose was still aching from the blow Rafe had given him yesterday; he had to admit the kid had a good back-swing.

What amazed him was that he didn't resent Rafe at all for hitting him. There wasn't a trace of anger or apprehension. At first he thought it might be shock, or maybe it was because he had been expecting something to happen, but after a night's sleep the feeling still wasn't there. He supposed that he couldn't really blame Rafe for it, considering some of the things that happened to him, so he wasn't going to get angry either.

That didn't mean Sully wasn't planning on saying anything about it, though.

He grabbed a plate of scrambled eggs and put it on the table. He could easily make himself some more. "I've got bacon and sausage on the way too, they'll just take another minute."

Rafe looked at the plate, pushed it across the table, and walked to the fridge. Good thing there was absolutely no one in the kitchen. That meant he could eat his breakfast in peace and silence.

He rummaged about and finally found an orange that looked ripe enough. He shut the door and looked around the kitchen. There were napkins on the table. Perfect. Even better, there were bananas on the counter. He grabbed one of those on the way to the table and sat down without a word.

Sam watched him with a raised brow, then rolled his eyes when he realized what was going on. "You're still doing that? Really? You know, you're going to have to talk to me at some point."

The only sound was an orange being peeled.

"Fine, have it your way. You should eat something a bit more than fruit, though. I promise I didn't poison the eggs."

Rafe paused and looked at the plate again. Slowly, deliberately, he reached over and pushed it completely off the table. It hit the floor and bounced once, then cracked into three pieces, sending scrambled eggs and porcelain in all directions.

Sam closed his eyes and took a deep breath, mentally counting to ten. His palm was getting very, very itchy. "Ok, you're cleaning that up."

He turned his attention back to the frying pan and channeled his annoyance into turning the meats. If Rafe didn't want to talk, that was fine with him. He was sure he'd be hearing plenty of noise from the kid when Victor went over the rules later.

"Did I hear a crash?"

Speak of the devil. Victor must have jumped out of bed when he heard the noise. He had a robe thrown on over his t-shirt and pajama pants, and his hair was still mussed. Sam had never seen him awake so early.

"Yeah," he nodded towards the mess, "Apparently I have a food critic."

Sully looked down on the floor and nodded in understanding. "I see. Good morning, Rafe. What's wrong, you don't like scrambled eggs?"

"Morning, Sully," Rafe responded pleasantly, as if there was nothing unusual about eggs on the floor. "No, I don't like anything that's been fried in butter. Do you know how bad that is for you?"

Sully raised a brow, unsure if he was telling the truth or choosing to be difficult. "Alright. I take it that means bacon's out of the question too?"

Rafe scrunched his nose and picked some pith off a slice. "You think I'd put something dripping in grease and fat and who knows what else in my mouth? No thank you."

"What do you like, then?"

Rafe gestured to his half eaten orange, and the untouched banana beside it. "I have what I like."

"That's not going to be enough," Sully frowned. "We have pancake mix-"

"Too many carbs."

"-or French toast-"

"What did I just say?"

"Cereal?"

"Are you even listening to me?" Rafe rolled his eyes and popped an orange piece in his mouth. "Carbs are a one-meal-a-day type thing, and the best time to have them is during dinner."

"I guess that rules out bagels," Sully sighed and took a seat at the table. If Rafe was just doing this to be difficult, he had a very bad feeling about the rest of the year. However, he didn't think it was just for show. Rafe was a young billionaire, and that health crap was the fad these days. "Well, what about oatmeal?"

Rafe considered it. "Do you have any that isn't pre-packaged?" He didn't need those preservatives in his system.

"I don't think so, but we can check the pantry," Sully offered.

"Then no. Fruit is fine."

"We have almonds," Sam spoke up, "They have protein, at least. And I can hard-boil some eggs if you don't want them fried. We have other options."

Rafe stared at Sully for a full ten seconds. "Do you have anything like almonds? Or I'd accept hard-boiled eggs."

Sam rolled his eyes and walked to the pantry. Normally it would be locked, but since he had been cooking it was already open. "Victor, ask the prince if he'd like something to drink. We have orange juice, milk, water, coffee, or tea."

Sully looked at Rafe. "I'm not repeating that."

"I'll take coffee, black."

"Good. Later you and I can look at our stock and make a list of things you want in our next provisions drop-off, if you want."

Rafe nodded and spit out an orange seed. "Good idea. I have a feeling it'll be a long one."

After breakfast was over Sully stood from the table and beckoned Rafe to follow him. The plate and eggs still lay where they fell, and no one made a move to touch them.

They wound up in a living room that branched off from the kitchen. Rafe had only caught glimpses of it the day before when he first walked into the house. Sully had offered a tour of the place and Rafe had declined. He had wanted his shower and to get away from everyone else. It's not like the house was very big anyway.

There were two couches arranged perpendicular to each other, facing away from the kitchen, so that one of them jutted out into the room. Across from this couch was a La-Z-Boy chair, which must have been for Sully, and there was a coffee table in the center of the three. One wall was lined with shelves that were filled entirely with books. Next to that was a desk, though as to its function Rafe had no clue. There was no computer sitting on top of it, nor was there a phone, or anything else for that matter. He guessed that maybe there were some documents locked away in those drawers, but he doubted he'd get any access to them so he'd never know for sure.

One thing that was starkly unusual was the lack of a television. What kind of living room didn't have a TV in it? Especially in a house on an island which was sure to have very little entertainment. Rafe felt like he was getting involved in a cult.

"Sit down," Sully gestured to one of the couches. "We need to talk."

"I'm good standing," Rafe commented, crossing his arms.

"You're not going to like what I have to say," Sully said conversationally, "I suggest you take a seat. It'll make it easier."

Rafe considered this, nodded, and perched himself on one of the cushions as if it was his idea. Sully humored him and settled down beside him.

Sam quietly entered the room and stood around the side of the couch. Rafe never turned his head to acknowledge his presence, but from the way his jaw set he was pretty sure that he was aware of it. He knew Rafe was going to hate this, and he expected a full-blown reaction from the kid. He wanted to be there in case Victor needed help containing him.

Sully cleared his throat, thinking about how he should start. He had been practicing this in his head for the past few weeks, but he still hadn't come up with a way that wouldn't piss Rafe off. "We made a deal with Nadine. That much you know." Rafe just kept watching him silently, so he continued. "The exact deal we made was that if the three of us can live together for a year and we still think you're worth saving, she will agree to forget that anything happened, and you'll be free to go back to your life. She seems to think that since she couldn't make it four months into a partnership with you then we won't last much longer living with you."

Rafe scoffed. "Oh boy. And you actually believed her? What's to stop her from changing the deal after a year is up? Or before a year is up? Assuming, of course, that she doesn't just abandon us all here to slowly starve to death. I mean, really, if what you've said about our limited connection is true then she's our life line, and she wouldn't have second thoughts about severing us off. Look at what she did to me."

This. This is why he didn't work with old men. They trusted everyone, especially women.

"I'm not that naïve," Sully responded, "I did put safeguards in there. But to answer your question, yes, I do trust her. She thinks in business deals, the same way you do. She doesn't double-cross people for no reason. It takes something extreme to get her to break a deal- and you have to admit, 'extreme' is an understatement to how you were acting at the end."

"Right." Rafe re-crossed his arms and sat back. "And what happens if you two don't make it a full year? I die?"

"Don't worry about that, we're going to make sure we can make it. And that brings me to the part you're going to hate."

"You mean you don't think I hate this already?" Rafe scoffed.

"Stop interrupting and let me get this out," Sully said, then braced himself. "The way Sam and I will treat you depends entirely on how you choose to behave. You won't be allowed to be an unbearable ass to make us miserable."

Rafe raised a brow and stared, waiting for an elaboration.

"You're expected to help with the housework, for one. You're also going to respect the property, so no more of that," Sully gestured towards the kitchen, "You will be cleaning that mess up. And, lastly, you don't have to like Sam or me but you do have to treat us as equals. We aren't here to be your slaves or your punching bags. No more lashing out, no patronizing, and no more ignoring anyone. You can't just shut us out for the entire year. Understand?"

Rafe didn't flinch throughout the speech, but Sully swore he felt the room get colder.

"And what," Rafe asked quietly, a hint of danger in his tone, "Will happen if I don't do all that bullshit?"

Sully sat up straight. "Then you won't be treated as an equal in this house. You'll find yourself with limited privileges- not being allowed any alcohol, for example, or a continued curfew of being locked in your room at ten. And you'll be punished when you disobey. It'll be along the lines of what happened on the beach, but would you like me to go into detail?"

Rafe slowly nodded as he processed this. "I see. And that's why you need Samuel here, is that it? He's your muscle in case I do something you don't like?"

"Sam is here because he's the one who dragged your sorry ass out of that ship," Sully responded, "And Nadine seems to think that makes you his responsibility. I'm here as a mediator to make sure you two don't kill each other. Don't think that just because I haven't yet, I can't take you over my knee myself if I have to."

He expected death threats, or shouting, or flat out denial of the whole idea. What he didn't expect was for Rafe to start laughing.

"You." Rafe stood up and looked down at Sully. "You're gonna spank me? Sure, just try not to break a hip when you do, old man."

"Thanks for your concern," Sully smirked wryly. "If you don't have any questions then you can go ahead and clean up that mess you made right now."

Rafe shook his head and walked towards Sam. "So let me get this straight," he said, keeping his eyes on Sully. "You think that I'm going to let you do that to me whenever you feel like I've disrespected you."

He paused in front of Sam, and the older man braced himself, expecting another one of Rafe's outbursts. His cheekbone began aching again, almost as a reminder. Instead, Rafe turned and began walking the other way. Alright, so he was pacing; that was fine for now. He probably needed time to work through this.

"So that means if I don't feel like playing housemaid, for example, or if I just speak to you the wrong way…" He continued pacing back and forth, stopping right in front of Sam, turning, and walking again to stand in front of Sully. "…Hell, even if I call you out to be the bastard that you are, or if I just state the fact that he's an asshole…" He gestured sideways, still not looking at the older Drake. He made his way back over to Sam and looked at Sully straight on. "You want to spank me for it?"

"One of us will, yes," Sully confirmed, keeping a wary eye on him.

"Well, I can't imagine what you would do if I did something like this." With that, Rafe drove an elbow back, slamming it just below Sam's rib cage.

Sam was dropped in an instant, all the air rushing from his lungs. Rafe turned and looked down at him, drinking in the sight. He lifted one leg back and lined his foot up with the man's head.

Before the kick had a chance to connect, he was grabbed around his chest and yanked backwards. Sully reached up from under his arms and hooked his hands behind Rafe's head, trapping his arms so he couldn't break free. "When a former sailor tells you that he'll have no trouble holding you down, you should believe him," he advised. "Now calm down, or do I need to put you in the corner until you do?"

As soon as he realized that struggling would get him nowhere, Rafe went limp and held his hands out as straight as he could as a sign of surrender. "Alright, you got me, Sully. But if Samuel didn't see that coming then you can hardly blame it on me."

Sully shook his head. "That's not how it works. Here's what's going to happen: I'm going to let you go, and you're going to walk to your room and leave your door open. You're going to sit on your bed and wait for me. And if you try hitting anyone or anything on your way there, I'll just decide to spank you out here in the living room. Do you understand me?"

"I understand your instructions," Rafe answered, keeping his voice steady.

"Good." Sully slowly released him, keeping himself alert.

Rafe straightened his shirt and didn't look down as he stepped around Sam and made his way down to his room. He ran his fingers through his hair, thinking over his new predicament in his mind. Sully spanking him- no, he didn't even want to use that word in his thoughts. Sully hitting him would be embarrassing, but it would be worse if he resisted and made Sam feel like he had to step in. Like it or not, he hadn't been able to work out for a while and he wasn't in good enough shape to take both of them on, especially without a weapon. It would be easier to let Sully slap him once or twice than to resist, at least for now.

Sully watched him until he was out of sight, then offered a hand to Sam. "You alright?" That looked like it had hurt quite a bit, and though Sam could take a lot of hits without complaint, Sully was still worried. He knew Sam wasn't like his little brother, who could whine for hours over minor scrapes and bruises, but he also knew that both Drakes tended to hide the bigger things like broken bones if they thought the timing was inconvenient.

"That asshole got me on one of my bullet scars," Sam grumbled and took his hand, "But yeah, I'll live. He's right, I should have been expecting that. Especially after the job he did on my face."

Sully helped him to his feet. "And he should have taken the better path and handled that like an adult. Why don't you go outside and have a cigarette? You'll feel better."

Sam knew a dismissal when he heard one. "Sure. I'll take a walk and check the lobster traps while I'm at it. You sure you'll be alright by yourself?"

"You kidding? He's a feather," Sully had to smirk, "And he's not taking this seriously yet, so I doubt he'll fight me until it's too late. Don't worry, I'll be fine."

Sam nodded. "Right. Good luck." He went to the front door and slipped on a pair of shoes, then went outside. His lungs hurt now, and only a full pack of cigarettes would help them feel better.

Sully steeled himself and began walking towards Rafe's room. He wasn't going to enjoy this at all, but he'd had a feeling that he'd end up having to spank him eventually, and he wasn't surprised that it happened so soon. It was better for his sanity that Rafe decided to dive right in than if he had spent the first few months toeing the water and arguing that he wasn't wet anyway.

The door was open when he got there, like he instructed, and without hesitation he stepped inside.