Uncharted: The Enemy of my Enemy
Author's Note:
This story is set following the events of Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception and cuts into the events of Uncharted 4: A Thief's End. Certain characters' survival will be explained as the story goes on.
Tick. Tick. Tick. Tock.
The clock on the far wall continued to tick away the seconds, the sound seeming louder in the otherwise silent room and it was occasionally accompanied by a page being turned. The silence, however, was soon disturbed by three firm raps against the door.
A pause. "Who is it?" Came the heavily accented question from the man in the wheelchair as he marked his page.
The visitor slowly opened the door and walked in.
"Ah, Miss Marlowe, I see you've woken up" He placed his reading material aside and folded his hands together.
Katherine Marlowe observed her surroundings for a long quiet moment, taking in several of the books lining the shelves, some of which particularly caught her eye. Slowly, she shifted her gaze towards the foreign man and tried to look as dignified as possible, despite not knowing her surroundings or the man in front of her.
The dark-haired man shifted around his desk, wheeling himself around to the side of the coffee table which seemed to house an array of biscuits and two still steaming pots, one of coffee and the other of tea. "Come. Have a seat. Tea?" He offered, taking up one of the tea cups and already starting to pour.
"Yes, that would be lovely" She took her time walking over, taking the seat opposite him, but he seemed to notice that she was sitting on the edge. She was suspicious and prepared to fight if things turned against her. Good. She should be.
"Sugar?" He prompted, when he noticed her staring at his legs, seeming to try to decipher the extent of his injury from behind the blanket.
"Oh, no, thank you" The senior woman subtly looked away, wearing a thin smile as she took the cup.
Another moment of silence passed as the man poured himself a cup of coffee, adding two small spoons of sugar but otherwise taking it black. She couldn't exactly place his age. Maybe somewhere in his thirties, but his disability didn't seem accustomed to yet which suggested to her that it was either recent or had only recently been dealt with. Marlowe waited for him to take a long sip before slowly bringing her own cup up to try her tea.
Cardamom, milk tea, naturally sweet and refreshing, it was a good choice but not one she had enjoyed before.
"I am sure you have a lot of questions for me, Miss Marlowe" Once she seemed to relax, he began to speak in a slow and measured tone, pronouncing his letters carefully and with deliberation.
Faded green eyes watched him, waiting patiently to hear what he had to say, but he also seemed to be waiting on her to ask. Clever tactic. It would mean that he only provided answers to the questions she posed, but also determined what she knew based on the questions she asked. She would have to craft them carefully and so she decided to try very small questions, then try to find the rest out on her own if this man proved to be a threat.
"Who are you?" Marlowe asked firstly, small and simple but with enough room to find out any information past his name.
"I am Atoq Navarro, an archaeologist doing digs her and there to find out about the past. The past is," He paused to drink some coffee. "very interesting. Don't you think?" The name was somehow familiar but she couldn't currently attribute any particular information to it and so she wore a polite smile.
"Indeed" She answered shortly, pretending to be distracted by the biscuits as she carefully set her tea cup in its saucer then picked a Bourbon biscuit from the selection since it was the most familiar thing to her beside the Jammie Dodgers, but she wasn't willing to get jam stuck in her teeth. That would be simply embarrassing, but some Custard Creams would have at least been decent. But it appeared that no one quite did tea time like they did back home.
Now if only she knew where the packet was.
"Nice place you have here. Rather quiet" She commented idly, maybe trying to seem more relaxed. "Nice for recovery too" That comment was certainly not as innocent, and she watched his expression carefully as he sipped his coffee.
"Yes, wonderful, isn't it, Miss Marlowe? Or is it Mrs?" So, he already knew her name, but that particular question almost made her suspicious.
"Not likely" She answered. Who had time to get married? She was never as simple as all that, settling down was just out of the question.
"Oh? Then the man with you was your son?" That hit a nerve and Marlowe almost scolded him for assuming she was old enough to mother a son as old as her partner, but she was distracted.
Was it really Talbot? Had Talbot been the one to get her out alive and now this was one of his associates? No, no, Talbot wouldn't run to anyone for help, she had taught him better. Either way, if he was well, then…
"Gentleman in a suit. Or what's left of one. Had a British passport just like yours" Atoq cut into her thoughts and it confirmed to her that they didn't know each other.
"Ah, yes, you've found our papers, what a relief," Marlowe sipped some more tea. "I was worried we wouldn't be able to go home again" She went on briefly, still trying to gauge how much this archaeologist knew.
"All in due time, Miss Marlowe" He promised.
"And my companion? Is he well? I admit, I'm a little groggy still" The woman inquired, hoping to at least find out where Talbot was. But this man… he was making her uneasy, he was too guarded to be a simple philanthropist. Maybe he was after money, maybe something else.
But whatever it was, Katherine Marlowe had no intention of being blackmailed into submission. No. Katherine Marlowe did not bow to anyone and she would show the whole world that if she needed to. Starting with this… man. How could she even describe him?
"He is recovering nicely. I will show you to him once you finish your tea. Would be a shame to dispose of a nice cup, no?" Atoq told her, drinking his coffee at his own leisure.
"Oh yes, of course" She pretended to take her time too, not to appear too concerned over Talbot's wellbeing lest she gave off the wrong impression that he meant more to her. A moment passed in which she recalled a brief memory. Talbot had been calling for her. Suddenly her head hurt and she couldn't resist the urge to massage her temple. What exactly happened?
"Are you alright, Miss Marlowe?" Her companion inquired and it might have peeved her that he sounded almost concerned about her.
"Certainly. Just getting an awful headache. Is it just me or is it chilly around here?" She asked to divert his attention.
"That would be because of the snow" He told her in understanding, briefly reaching across his desk to retrieve a small packet of painkillers which he set down before her and then the jug of water to pour her a glass.
Marlowe watched him quietly from behind her fringe, trying to place this kindness against his caution. Maybe she had been overthinking it. Maybe he was just a decent person, but a little on the reserved side.
No.
Marlowe wouldn't write him off just yet, and focused on taking one of the pills in silence.
The weather told her they were no longer anywhere near the Rub' al Khali, and a brief look in the direction of the window suggested that it was also snowing heavily outside, making it difficult to see much or determine the time of day. Her attention was brought to the clock ticking away busily on the mantelpiece. A little past five, in the evening presumably.
Her tea was finished in another two sips and she waited to see if he would do anything but he also seemed to have finished his coffee.
"Follow me" He instructed shortly, manoeuvring his wheelchair around the office and towards the door.
Marlowe had wanted to explore and get a feel for her surroundings earlier, but the minute she stepped out of her allocated room, she had found a man in black posted outside her door, suggesting the owner was two things- very rich and someone that needed protection. Given his condition, Marlowe wasn't surprised, but she hadn't seen any security guards on the way to the office and even now there didn't seem to be any.
Meaning… if she ever needed to, she could easily take him out. This was good progression, the woman supposed, and focused on the turns and the mapping of the place. Everything seemed to be on ground level and the building itself was not too big, more like a holiday home if anything.
They finally turned a corner and she spotted two men standing around the door. Neither were carrying a visible weapon, just like the one that escorted her, but that didn't mean that they didn't have concealed ones. In countries where arms were illegal, goons like these wouldn't display their weapons. So that could possibly mean that they weren't in the US either.
Marlowe watched closely as the door was opened for the disabled man but there didn't seem to be a need for a key which suggested it was always open. Quietly, she followed him in and was immediately assaulted with a strong scent that one would normally associate with hospitals. Her eyes immediately darted around, taking in the medical equipment and the steady beeping of the heart monitor.
Talbot was bed bound, covered heavily in bandages and stuck full of tubes, a neck brace supporting his head and an oxygen mask keeping him breathing in his unconscious state. His face was gaunt and his skin deathly in its pallor. He seemed to have lost a lot of weight too since he had been in this condition for some time.
"Don't worry, the doctor said he's recovering nicely" Atoq told her as he moved to the far side of the bed, watching her intensely through deep dark eyes that seemed to gleam. He was watching, waiting for a reaction perhaps.
"I am not worried" The British woman replied, more vehemently than she had intended but she hoped that it would go unnoticed. He didn't say anything as she observed Talbot's sleeping form and noted the bandages around his abdomen.
Just what had happened after she lost consciousness?
"How long have we been here?" She asked in a cool tone.
Atoq seemed to pause with a thoughtful hum as though trying to think of the exact number. "Two weeks at most. This is the third" He finally answered, and saw her expression harder.
"And you," She shifted around a bit. "Found us on one of your archaeological digs? Before… all this?" She gestured to his covered legs almost inquisitively, trying to keep her tone light not for fear of offending him but in a way of making it seem like she was just curious.
Atoq Navarro's expression very briefly, though she knew what she was looking for, faltered and there was a flash of something dark shadowing the already deep brown hues.
"… Marlowe?" The voice that interrupted his silence was croaky and dry and came from the bed bound man that had been woken by the familiarity of her voice.
Author's Notes:
I have quite high prospects for this story and have carefully planned everything out to tie it in as smoothly as possible even if it's technically an AU fic. I guess the thing that really inspired me with this one is my love for all the characters of Uncharted (villains and heroes), but I just wished that not all the villains would have been killed off at the end of the games.
Please R&R.
WritingLevel-Meh