Sorry it's taken a little longer to post than I originally said. So here's chapter 2. It's short again, as will most these chapter be. I appreciate the reviews and follows, everyone. Truly :)

Please be patient I have no clue where I'm taking this which means it might be a little until chapter 3. I'm aiming for 3-4 days.

Thanks, again everyone and please R&R!

Exploration

By the time Sam reached the window trim, his hands were frozen and cracked a little. But nothing he hadn't grown accustomed to. Reaching out, he held his breath as he softly pressed against the glass, praying it was unlocked otherwise he would have to travel across the surface of the building side to find another way in. Something he really did not want to do.

He sighed with overwhelming relief when the glass slowly peeled open. Poking his head over the trim he scanned the room; and though it was difficult to see in the dark, it seemed to be a study room. Most importantly - empty. Pulling himself up, he vaulted into the room nearly knocking over a fancy stained glass lamp. Panicking he fumbled with the lamp anxiously batting it between hands before it finally landed in his palm. A bead of sweat dripped down his temple and he released a huge breath of relief. "Shit, Sam, be more careful." Gently placing it back upon the desk he backed away carefully.

Mentally he could hear Sully reprimanding him for his carelessness and provoked by thought alone, Sam curled his lip in annoyance. Shrugging it off he pulled out the small lighter in his pocket. Neither nathan nor Sully were aware, but within the last six months Sam had picked up a bit of a habit for smoking. He didn't want to set a bad example for his little brother especially. But also didn't feel inclined to have a sit down by Sully who hypocritically would preach about the dangers of smoking while no doubt taking a puff of a cigar at the same time.

Igniting the spark wheel Sam waved the small illuminating light through the room to get a better idea where he was. It was too risky to turn on a light, potentially alerting anyone outside the door of his presence.

As far as he could see, the room was empty of any profitable relics and the sword was nowhere to be found. "Alright, next room." He wasn't sure taking the outside hall to the next room was a smart idea considering it overlooked the crowded ballroom. Checking every corner of the room, he search for air vents of some sorts he could climb through. Unfortunately, to no surprise, such a refined public area didn't offer any air ways of reasonable size for him to climb through. At this time he sort of wished Nathan's small frame was here to get through the small space.

Alas, he was on his own though and his only option to break into the next few rooms to search for the sword was to take the open balcony that overlooked the ballroom with the hundreds of young men chatting about sailboats.

Unlike most the young men occupying the space below bragging about their precious sail, Sam had his fair share of sailing that would shut the mouth of all them. Just last summer he, Sully and his little brother had managed to find themselves caught in a hurricane right in the middle of the atlantic ocean while diving for lost treasures of Pirates. Turned out the scavenger hunt had been all for nothing, but Nathan seemed to enjoy himself so Sam was happy.

In all his adventures with Sully and Nathan, his number one priority was making Nathan happy. Their childhood hadn't been easy, and since Sam wasn't always around as he went job hunting he tried to continuously make it up to Nathan with their experiences with Sully. Since Sam was so much older than Nathan, by five years, he never felt quite right spending so much time living out with Sully. He felt intrusive despite Sully trying to discourage that thought. However, with he and Sully being two very independant men, they frequently butted heads and Sam found it best to be on his own and go on missions with them only when necessary. Otherwise, Sam hopped from one job to another to help little Nathan out as much as possible.

Sam nearly leapt out of his own skin when footsteps outside the door gradually grew closer. Flipping shut his lighter, Sam dived behind the desk and hugged his knees close to his chest. He listened closely when the steps appeared to stop right outside the door. Holding his breath, he waited while his heart sped up and his blood pumped through his veins terrified he'd been compromised.

The door creaked open. Sam's hand slid to the knife hooked to his belt. A soft clicking noise implied the door had closed but the more audible sound of the footsteps told Sam the perpetrator was now in the room. The last thing he wanted to do was immobilize somebody. Not only was it extremely difficult, but if someone noticed the person missing it always put the mission at 50% chance to fail.

He decided to wait it out, but grew increasingly impatient when the perpetrator seemed to linger nonchalantly walking from one side of the room to the next. Sam figured it was one of the boys, bored by the excitement downs stairs who decided to explore. How the hell he got passed the guard intrigued Sam but he couldn't worry about it now. As of that moment he had to figure out what he was going to do because it was obvious the boy wasn't going anywhere. Slowly, untangling himself he peered around the corner of the desk and recognized the figure of a small male figure leering over the bookshelf stacked with books. It was difficult to distinguish any recognisable features on the kid because of how dark it was. Crouching, Sam tiptoed behind the boy before throwing his arms around his throat. His plan was to choke the person into unconsciousness but that quickly took another turn when the other boy seemingly knew how to break out of a choke hold.

Thrusting his shoulders up he sank out of Sam's hold, twirled around and slammed a solid blow to throwing him back a few steps. Momentarily dazed, Sam shook his head and was surprised a little by the small kids powerful punch.

"What the hell, Sam?!"

Sam squinted in the dark with his fists raised to his face when he finally recognized Nathan as the boy standing across the room from him. "Nathan! What are you doing here? You were supposed to stay with Sully!"