Remind me again why I do this. Nate Drake thought to himself as he hung from his fingernails outside the window of the old library. A few pebbles came loose from the sill, and dropped onto his upraised face. He closed his eyes just in time.
The brusque voices trickled out the window. "I'm sure I heard something Greg." The younger voice was defensive.
"Yeah, sure kid," came the second more seasoned voice. "Look, we all get jumpy. C'mon, there's nothing here."
Drake concentrated hard on being nothing. Nothing here, nothing here, nothing here, he chanted in his head. Then the windowsill started to crumble. "Ah, shit," he hissed under his breath, trying to shift his grip without making any noise. The next place he put his fingers wasn't any more secure, and he could feel the sill giving way beneath his fingers. "Shit, shit, shit," he hissed again, and leapt sideways to grab the mouth of the ugliest gargoyle he'd ever seen. Finally it seemed he'd managed to find a handgrip that wasn't disintegrating and he clung to it, straining his ears to hear signs that he'd been discovered.
Silence. Now, was it silent because the men hadn't heard him and had left the room, or was it silent because they were waiting for him to peek his head of the window so they could blow it off?
Man, his arms were starting to get tired. Either way, he was going to have to move soon. He waited another moment, taking another look at the gargoyle while he did so. Something about it… He continued to contemplate it, still listening intently. His left arm threatened to cramp which made his decision. He swung back and forth a couple of times, then gave a leap that landed him on the unreliable windowsill. With hardly a pause, he continued the motion forward and landed on the library floor with a grunt. He had his pistol in hand before he'd even had a chance to blink and he swept the room with it. The men were gone, for now. He crept back into the shadows, hoping that the men hadn't been hovering outside the door.
Moments passed and no one appeared. Nate relaxed and went back to his original mission. Somewhere in this library, and he suspected in this room, there was supposed to be a cache of jewels.
He'd found some old documents detailing the library hiding spot at a flea market of all places. He had purchased a large box of very old papers from a vendor who he suspected was just this side of shady. The man had seemed relieved to be rid of the papers with no questions asked about their origins, and Nate had been quite happy to take them off of his hands.
Among many boring, and a few interesting papers there had been several pages from someone's journal. He hadn't yet figured out who, but he was hoping that there would be some hint in the cache, assuming that he found it.
This was supposed to be a really easy, quick in and out job. He had no idea why the goons were here, and if he could get out without coming across them again, he had no intention of finding out why they were here.
His mind was drawn back to the gargoyle. Something… He pulled out the copies of the papers and looked over them again, suddenly grinning and tapping a picture that closely resembled his recent hanging place. It wasn't exact, which is what threw him off for a moment. That and the fact that he'd expected the hiding place to be on the interior of the library, but he remembered seeing signs that the exterior of gargoyle had been restored. Maybe it was the one he was looking for. Hopefully they hadn't felt it necessary to do any work inside its mouth. If they had, it was almost certain that the jewels were gone.
The sharp retort of gunshots came from deeper in the library. "Crap!" This job was quickly becoming more trouble than it was worth. Despite himself, Drake wondered what was going on. As another shot came, closer now he told himself, Not need to know information. He considered the window. Well, I need to check out that gargoyle again anyway. Now's as good a time as any.
He leapt onto the windowsill, and jumped on top of the ugly creature, rather than hanging from it. From this vantage point, he could get a glimpse into the window if he leaned forward, but wouldn't be readily visible while he was working.
He lay on his stomach and reached his arm back as far as he could into the gargoyles mouth, intently listening for any indication of the goons return while he felt around. Nothing. He cursed, but kept running his fingers around the rough interior. Now what was that? Loose mortar? He picked at the flakey feeling stone wishing he could see inside. The mortar was actually coming out fairly easily and he quickly cleared enough that his fingers could fit in. There was an opening. He curled his fingers around the stone and had just given it a yank, feeling it give way when the door to the room he had just vacated slammed. He was torn between taking a quick look at who had just entered and checking out the newly opened area. Checking out the area won out. For a moment he felt nothing, but then his fingers just brushed something that felt like stiff leather. It was just…out…of… reach…. He stretched his arm a bit further, and had just managed to pinch the cloth between his index and his middle finger when he heard someone on the windowsill.
Oh no! With a feeling of dread, Nate turned his head just in time to get the impression of feminine beauty dropping downward. What the hell? Distracted, Nate almost lost his grip on the piece of leather between his fingers. He shifted his grip slightly. Got it! He drew his hand out quickly, and jammed his find into a secure pocket without even taking a look at it. He sat up and eyed the woman hanging from the windowsill.
"It's not very secure there," he offered in a conversational manner. She started and began to reach for her pistol, but the sill under the fingers of her left hand began to crumble and she was forced to grab back on with her right hand as well. She glared at him defiantly.
"Relax," he said, holding up his empty hands. "I'm not going to hurt you. I don't know you from Eve." The door in the room slammed open again. "But I'm guessing that they might want to hurt you. Here." He reached an arm down, not quite sure why he was always messing in someone else's business. The position left his head completely exposed to the window and he desperately hoped they didn't get the sudden urge to look at the scenery.
The woman continued to glare at him suspiciously, and while he couldn't blame her, he was getting a little impatient. Take it or not, he tried to relay with his eyes, but I gotta go. He didn't dare speak aloud.
The decision was taken from her when the windowsill began to crumble completely under her hands. She leapt and grabbed his arm. Her sudden full weight was unexpected, and Nate was glad that he'd hooked his feet under the gargoyle. "Ooof!"
Whether it was Nate's sudden exhalation of air, or the sound of the windowsill falling, Nate didn't know, but they were suddenly a target. "There, out the window! Fuck! She's got a partner. I thought Justin said that she always worked alone."
A bullet pinged off of the window edge beside him. Not only that, but he could feel the gargoyle starting to give way under the weight of the two of them. "Can you get up there?" He pointed at the windowsill of a window on the next floor up as another bullet whizzed by him. She nodded shortly and scrambled upward. Feeling the gargoyle letting go from the wall completely, Drake made a desperate leap upward, fingers scrabbling against the wall. All he found was a tiny crack, but it was enough to stuff the fingers of one hand into.
"Here," the woman's voice was low and sexy. "There's a grip over here, and this windowsill should be able to hold both of us. Drake reached his free hand out, frantic as he felt his grip slipping. His fingers encountered a solid brick, large enough for both hands and he leapt over, hanging briefly from that brick. A bullet sang by him and he glanced downward, seeing two men hanging out the window, pointing guns up at them. Oh boy… this find had better be worth it. He jumped one more time, over to the windowsill, where he stood beside the woman, protected from the gunfire below.
"Hi, I'm Nate," he said, giving a charming grin.
"Alicia," she replied shortly eyeing him as if he was insane. "You got a way out of here Nate? 'Cause mine's shot to Hell."
He jerked a chin at the roof. "I've got a zipline up there and a jeep waiting for me. I've even got an extra strap for the zipline. For just such an emergency. It happens more often than you might think."
She turned and eyed the wall. "I should be able to make it up there," she said. "And I'm guessing you weren't planning on using the stairs."
"Wouldn't have been my first choice," he replied. "We better get moving before they figure out what room we're at."
She nodded, and without another word turned and leapt up to the next floor. Drake waited until she had moved to the next handhold and leapt upwards. These upper stories seemed in better repair, and they made very good time to the top.
"Here," he called, after climbing up onto the roof. He tossed her his extra strap. "The zipline's hooked to that ariel over there." He pointed to the other side of the roof. She nodded and they both began to run across the roof when the door, which was between them and freedom burst open and four goons spilled out.
Quickly Nate took cover behind a chimney, but not before he felt a searing burn across his thigh. He glanced down to see a bloody streak across his leg. "Ow!" He looked back up to see where Alicia was. Shehad taken refuge behind a low wall.
Several shots zipped by him before he was able to stick his head out and take a couple of shots back. He took two of the men in the head, and Alicia quickly took the other two out. Now that he'd done something as permanent as killing someone, he hoped he'd picked the right side.
"Let's go, before more of them show up," Alicia hissed already moving towards the zipline. Drake followed, somewhat more slowly. Alicia glanced back impatiently when she reached the edge and saw him limping. "You're hit?"
"I'm okay," he replied. "'Tis just a flesh wound." She narrowed her eyes at him, probably wondering how much of a He-man he was, then nodded shortly and flipped her strap over the zipline. Seconds later she was off. He flipped his own strap over, waiting. He would have liked to wait until she was halfway down, but a shot behind him told him that he didn't have the time. With an oath, he pushed off, sliding down too close behind her.
She met the ground and rolled away, which was a good thing, because he landed in a heap behind her, his leg giving away as soon as he hit the ground. He grunted in pain, and Alicia ran quickly back to help him up. "Your jeep…where is it?" He pointed and Alice helped him around the corner. "Gimme the keys," she said as they came to the vehicle. He looked at her, frowning. "Come on, gimme the keys. You're hurt. And they're going to be here any time. He nodded shortly and handed over the keys as she helped him into the passenger seat.
Alicia leapt into the driver's seat and burned away. She made several turns and then headed for the freeway.
Drake had been watching behind them. "I don't think we're being followed," he said. I haven't seen anyone."
Alicia nodded her agreement. "Where you staying?" Drake named the cheap motel he was checked into just outside of town. "I know it," Alicia said and about half an hour later they pulled into the parking lot.
"Out."
"Pardon me?" Drake asked, incredulously.
"Get Out. Now." She laid her hand on her pistol.
"Okay, Okay, I'm getting." Drake climbed out, hands facing her, palms out. He glowered at her. "That's my favourite jeep you know."
She shrugged and jammed her foot down onto the accelerator, peeling out of the parking lot.
Drake limped to his room and dialed Sulley's number. As his friends voice came on the line he sighed and said, "Sulley, remind me again why I do this…"