Disclaimer: I don't own anything of the Uncharted series, everything belongs to Naughty Dog, Sony and other respective owners.

I am not an English-speaker, so if there are mistakes, forgive me, I'm doing my best to avoid them.

Chapter 1 - Calm before the storm

Nathan Drake would have lied had he stated that he didn't expect this to happen someday. But for the last years of his life - the happiest he ever lived - he willingly and consistently assured himself that this time he was certainly and fully wrong. And he got used to this thought.

He truly believed in it.

So when this nightmare of his eventually came true, he couldn't believe how stupid and naive he had to be to ever have a slightest hope of leaving his past behind. He imagined 'past' as a dark and cold corridor that disappeared every night behind the locked doors to his and Elena's bedroom. In these moments he found it easy to forget and stay on this side, full of light and warmth. But now it was obvious that although he tried so hard to forget about the past, the past has never forgotten about him.

Now, sitting in front of his beach house, Nate stared at the laptop on his lap and watched the number of incoming messages rise with every minute. He felt an overwhelming desire to throw this piece of electronic crap deep into the ocean - along with his cellphone which was constantly vibrating in his pocket. On this day, just like the previous two days, he hadn't the slightest intention of picking up calls or reading e-mails. He rested his head on his hands and sighed loudly, pressing fingers to his temples. Think, Nate, he said to himself inwardly, think!

Throughout the years Nathan Drake fought various shit. Spanish zombies, icy yetis and fire guardians, mercenaries, terrorists, guys in fancy suits, pirates, private armies… This and a whole bunch of villains more. Now he'd faced an opponent who seemed far more dangerous and ruthless.

Journalists.

…How to get rid of an army of journalists?

Suddenly he felt his wife's cool fingers on his temples, slipping in-between his own and pressing gently against his skin. He let his hands fall along his sides and leaned against the back of the chair, letting out a low growl.

"Oh yes-" he murmured. "Don't stop. That's exactly what I need."

"You're welcome," he heard Elena's answer from behind. She was trailing circles with her fingers against his temples, pressing all the right spots, that always worked on him - distressing him and soothing his nerves. While massaging her husband's temples Elena glanced at the laptop screen.

"Wow, you really are popular," she snorted. "Like a rock star. We should start sending them autographs."

"Very funny," Nate sighed with a bit of irritation, but he didn't open his eyes. "Really."

"Hey, don't worry," she said, reaching out over his shoulder and flipping the laptop closed. "They're trying to reach me too. I locked the cellphone in the washing machine. If they won't stop calling, I will set the laundry."

Nate chuckled but didn't say anything in reply, relaxing under her touch. He appreciated her attempts to cheer him up, but this fuss seemed different than other problems they faced throughout the years. After so much time of a normal and "legal" life Nate felt uneasy when someone or something reminded him about his life as a thief. It wasn't like he got allergic to it - Sam and Sully never actually dropped this lifestyle and every time they met, he listened to their incredible stories. Countless times he got to pay a bail to get them out of jail. It changed recently. Sam was taking jobs mostly by himself, as Sullivan started experiencing more and more severe health problems…

"Couldn't you… y'know…" he muttered, looking through narrowed eyes towards the ocean. The storm was slowly approaching from the south, painting the distant sky with dark, gray clouds.

"It will stop," Elena interrupted him. She slid her hands down his cheeks and his neck, then rested them on his shoulders and pressed a gentle kiss on Nate's ear. "I'm certain of it. They'll eventually exhaust the topic. Besides, you're safe from the legal side, you're protected by the statute of limitations."

"I know, but…" Nate reached and grabbed her left hand, guiding her to face him. Her golden hair bent in a ponytail gleamed in the afternoon sun.

"'Lena, they're journalists, right? You must know at least some of them. Couldn't you just tell them to butt out?"

It seemed to him that he saw a glimpse of panic in her eyes, only for a brief moment. Then Elena sighed, moved away his laptop and sat down nicely on Nate's lap, wrapping her arms around his neck. Nate curled his arm around her back, supporting her and breathed in her delicate scent.

"I already did it, Nate," she whispered quietly into his ear after a few seconds. "They… some of them promised to leave the topic."

He felt his muscles relax a bit. "That's good," he whispered back, wrapping another arm around her waist and hugging her tight. "How many you mean by 'some of them'?"

Elena squirmed on his lap as she hesitated to answer. "…A few."

Nate knew that voice of hers. There was only one worse liar on this planet than him. But the difference between them was that when in doubt, Nate usually chose to lie, even if it was unsuccessful in advance, while Elena always did everything to avoid it first.

He raised his left hand and gently pulled her away to meet her brown eyes.

"How many?" he asked her again. "Tell me."

He noticed the same glimpse of panic, then Elena lowered her gaze with a sigh.

"Two."

Nate froze, then shook his head in disbelief. "No," he said, frowning at her, and when Elena nodded, he snorted. "Oh, you gotta be kidding me-"

Of all her fellow editors-in-chief only two promised Elena to immediately wipe the topic off their websites and magazines, just in the name of their acquaintance and respect towards her. The others were ruthless. Unfortunately, it was a kind of news on which a lot of haters' gonna feed for some time, buying magazines and visiting websites with proper amount of commercials… Nate and Elena knew that it was all about money. Such image crisis always brings nothing but profits to these vultures. For the next weeks they can talk this through from any angle, ask "experts", lawyers, provide the hungry audience with a hidden picture... Nate felt he hated all these editors even more when he remembered their false, stiff smiles as Elena was signing advertising contracts with them or sending them "exclusive" first-hand news footage from their expeditions.

He never liked journalists anyway. And his wife was the exception that only confirmed this rule; after all, his original plan was to use her money and then ditch her at the dock... That was his usual attitude towards journalists.

"Damn it!" Nate cursed, clenching his fist. "We should have done something when we first got that fucking letter…"

Elena sighed sadly and patted his shoulder.

"Like what?" she asked resignedly, drawing a circle with her thumb on his skin. "It would have leaked to the media anyway, sooner or later."

Nate didn't want to admit it. He always wanted to protect Elena and Cassie, and a thought that he might have done something wrong and that brought trouble on his family was killing him. But Elena could have been right. They didn't know that the situation will develop… maybe they wished for the case to silent by itself. Somehow.

Nate stayed silent for a while, staring at the horizon, then squirmed as Elena patted him gently, pulling him out of his thoughts.

"…storm is coming," he nodded absentmindedly towards the ocean and Elena glanced behind her back. There were dark clouds in the distance, but on their part the sun was still shining mercilessly. "Cassie called?"

"Yeah," Elena replied, rising to her feet. "Slight delay in Paris. She'll call again before boarding."

Nate nodded. Fortunately, they talked "the matter" through with Cassie many years ago. They told her everything… well, most of the details. Nate found it hard to admit before his beloved and innocent little girl, that he did things in the past he's now not exactly proud of. God, he was scared as hell to see how she would react to these stories, but Elena was always certain that this was the right thing to do. "She should learn it from you", she encouraged him to start the talk. Now Nate was more than grateful for Elena for this - a thought that Cassie might have learned about her father's glorious past from the media was unbearable. Now, when this affair broke out, they decided that she should go home before those news-hunters find her.

Unexpectedly Elena pulled her shirt over her head, then turned to her husband, and began to pull on her shorts, staying in a turquoise bathing suit. She smiled flirtatiously, watching him as he raised his both eyebrows.

"Whoa," he sighed, playful grin appearing on his face. "Is that an invitation of some kind?"

Elena chuckled.

"The storm is still far away, and I really want to swim. You're invited to join me."

Nate watched her as she ran towards the shore, then stood and followed her to the water. They left a path of their clothes behind them, and the beach soon filled with their loud laughter.

Laughter, that drowned out a very distant, barely audible thunder.

~ To be continued.

I am curious of what you think about it. I was wondering whether it's possible for a person like Nate to leave his life of a thief and peacefully live his new life in a society that's, unfortunately, full of people that are not willing to give any 'second chances'. I actually witnessed it several times to be a severe social problem.

I have an outline for the rest of the chapters, but I'm not sure how will it develop, so I'll be adding tags gradually.

P.S. And YES, I know that swimming before and during the storm in not advisable. :)