One foot behind the Other
Title: One foot behind the Other
Prompt: None
Summary: Elena and Nate's relationship during, before and after Drake's Fortune and Among Thieves.
Author: Sakura123 (weber_dubois22)
Rating: T
Word Count:
Chapters: 1/11
Character(s): Elena Fisher; Nathan Drake; Sully; Chloe; Jeff
Pairing(s): Nate/Elena; Chloe/Nate (mild)
Spoilers/Warnings: Spoilers for Drakes Fortune and Among Thieves.
Authors Note: The following are a bunch of short stories I wrote for a "ficmix" theme challenge , which, unfortunately I never got to enter because of writer's block (I managed to finish the stories, but it was well past the due date) which lasted for quite awhile. I figured I would post them on their own separately without the music attached to it, see how it would do.
One: Back of my Feet
It been roughly God-knows-how-long since both of them had crashed on the island. God-knows-how-long since she found herself alone, traveling around the massive fort ---crawling with pirates---, busted Drake out of prison, plowed through miles of tropical forest in a jeep and was driven backward off a cliff into the water below. There were a multitude of ways Elena wanted to kill Drake for putting her heart through all this unnecessary stress, but it wasn't like she hadn't asked for it when she followed him and Sully.
After a trip or two around the river wild, they finally managed to find their way back to land. Ten minutes hadn't even passed before they were set-upon by pirates. Again. "Great more of Eddie's goons. This should be exciting," Nate grumbled, running for cover. Elena found her cover in the form of large tree, back pressed against the bark, she pulled her gun from her waistband and prepared for the firefight.
There was nothing relatively "exciting" about their current situation, Elena thought ducking another round of bullets. Chunks of bark splintered and broke away from the tree she was currently taking cover behind. Of course, given her profession, Elena wasn't foreign to the concept of being shot at, her producers usually gave her an earful for pulling tricks like venturing into some war-torn area, just to get her story. (It wasn't her fault lesser-known historical landmarks happened to be on frequented trails of thugs or other unsavory folk).
They stopped complaining so frequently though when the ratings went were higher than they'd been since the show premiered on the National Geographic channel. In the corner of her eye she could see Drake crouched behind a overturned pillar, reloading the AK-47 he grabbed off one of the [dead] pirates. As if he had all the time in the world, Nate flashed her a grin. What the hell, Drake? Was what she was really thinking, but Elena found herself smiling -- uneasily -- in return.
The shooting on her side alleviated long enough for her to get two shots in, her target went down with a cry, the pirate fell almost gracefully off the cliff side and hit the ground. When she ducked behind her cover again, one glance over to where Drake was revealed that he was no longer taking cover. Once glance at the surrounding greenery assuaged the fear that he'd been shot down, instead when she peeked around the other side of the tree, she saw he was running through the gunfire like a madman, taking down pirates as he zigzagged through the tumultuous environment. That crazy son of a bitch!
The chaos of gunfire and scattered grunts of pain left her partially confused as to what was going on beyond her protection; Was Drake being riddled with holes, or was it the other way around? Elena assumed the latter, the gunfire was becoming less dominant. Checking her gun, Elena stepped out from behind her cover prepared to fire, she zeroed in on the final pirate atop the cliff and pulled the trigger.
In the blink of an eye, Elena watched the man go down before her bullet even reached him, bewildered Elena looked down at her gun; the chamber was empty, she was pretty sure she pulled the trigger. Nate approached her from the left, checking over his pistol. "Okay, I think that was the last of them," He huffed.
"Yeah, maybe," Elena groaned, tossing the gun aside. He paused, taking a moment to study Elena's spry figure. She was shaking from head to toe, an obvious sign that the adrenaline pumping through her system was beginning to wane. Sporting another grin, he nudged her in the ribs. Elena, currently hunched over with her hands on her knees, turned her head to regard the man. "Didja see me nail that guy? Huh? I betcha you thought you hit him." If this were a video game, Elena would be quick to jest with him and foreign denial, but given the circumstances, she just rolled her eyes. "Sure I did, cowboy. Your a regular Quigley," She said, standing back up.
"'A regular Quigley?'" Nate repeated. "What does that even mean?"
"What, you've never seen Quigley Down under? Tom Selleck, Alan Rickman? Matthew Quigley was a sharp shooter," She chuckled. Nate continued to look confused; The actors he recognized, the supposed movie title, he did not. The surrounding forest had grown quiet again, Elena didn't like quiet around here.
Nate seemed to pick up on what she was thinking and nudged her arm. "C'mon, we've gotta get to that port," He said. Elena nodded breathlessly, following after the adventurer as he sprinted across the grass toward the rope dangling from the cliff side.