Disclaimer: I don't own the characters; they belong to Naughty Dog LLC.

Author's Note: So my husband and I are tag-teaming our way through Uncharted 4 as we speak and I'm trying to get a better handle on Sam's character. I'm also noticing some really random parallels between my story and A Thief's End (the underwater wreck, the attempt at normalcy, the auction/Warrick's party)...and I promise it's all coincidental, I'd never played the game until this weekend. :)

-9-
FAMILY MATTERS

Saturday
The Cassandra, Miami Marina

Nate dropped his duffel right inside the door and limped his way over to the couch and sat down. His brother followed him inside and made his way directly to the galley, tossing his brother an ice pack. "All right, little brother, next time I do the B&E and you wear the tux."

"Yeah," Nate grimaced. "Yeah, that sounds like a plan." He was grateful the night before had been spent in a room with a decent bed and the ice machine right down the hall.

"You keep this up, you're gonna end up needing to replace that knee," Sully warned him as he took a seat at the table.

"Hey you've gotta admit, the fact that it's taken this long for something serious to happen to me is pretty impressive," Nate countered.

Sully raised an eyebrow as he ticked off on his fingers, "Getting drugged in Yemen, Nadine kicking your ass in Italy, getting shot in Nepal-"

"Yeah, yeah, okay, I get it," Nate shook his head.

"Having to climb out of a derailed train, crashing a plane in Borneo-"

"Jesus, Sully, I get it," Nate cut the older man off, rolling his eyes.

"At least tell me it was worth it," Sam said. "Did you get somethin'?"

"Yes and no," Nate replied. "Let's wait until the girls get-oh, never mind," he said, smiling as Elena and Cassie walked onto the boat, laughing about something. Cassie had wanted to spend the morning in the hot tub at the hotel, so Nate had arranged for late checkout for the two of them so they could have the room a little longer. "Hey, Cassie," he said, grinning at his daughter, who was in her swimsuit top and a black wrap. "Was the hot tub everything you hoped it would be?"

"And then some," Cassie replied contentedly, squeezing her father's shoulder before heading back to her room to change. "I think we need a hot tub for the boat."

"Oh sure, I'll get right on that," Nate told her, laughing.

Elena tucked her sunglasses back behind her ears and set her overnight bag down before grabbing a cup of coffee from the galley and taking a seat next to her husband on the couch. "Did we miss anything important?"

"Sully rolling through my greatest hits," Nate muttered under his breath.

"Anyway, now that we're all here," Sam said, "Nate, you were saying?"

"Right." Nate straightened a little. "The answer to your question is no, the Chalice wasn't down in Warrick's Little Shop of Horrors, but Maria Dominquez was."

"Uncle Sam's girlfriend?" Cassie questioned, coming out of her bedroom, now in a pair of shorts and a t-shirt.

Nate eyed his brother with a see what you've done look in his eye before replying, "She didn't have the Chalice either but she practically confirmed she knows where it is before she took a potshot at me."

"Warrick was practically waving it in our face, too," Elena said. "All that talk of 'world changing' news and all the charity stuff. There's definitely something going on."

"Plus, he called me and Sully pirates," Sam added. "So, I don't like him."

Nate snorted. "Yeah, he's definitely playing up the rockstar philanthropist angle. Maria said something about the band learning all the local myths and legends…I bet he picked up on the Chalice that way." He shivered. "She was definitely a Cheetah Tonic groupie…of the Charles Manson variety."

"What do you think they'll do with the Chalice?" Sully wondered.

"I'm for melting it into a nice paperweight," Sam offered.

The adults were silent for a moment, thinking plans and strategy. Cassie broke the silence. "Where did you say he was kicking off his tour, Mom?"

"Ah, the Canary Islands," Elena said distractedly.

Her daughter nodded. "Good place to cause a disaster like Caracas," she pointed out.

Nate glanced at his daughter, and Cassie stood up, pointing to the framed world map on the wall. "See, the Canary Islands, they're really close to the Eurasian and African plates, so like, a prime spot for another earthquake. Or…closing off the Straits of Gibraltar, disrupting international shipping. Plus, it's like a hot touristy spot, isn't it?"

Nate's eyes widened as his daughter laid out the implications. "There's no way he picked that place by accident," Cassie continued. "And, the Paradiso hotel chain just opened up a new property there. I bet he's using that as his cover."

She crossed her arms over her chest and waited, watching the adults mull that information over. Finally, Cassie saw her mother shake her head. "How did you get to be so smart, kiddo?"

Cassie shrugged. "I mean, it's obvious," she said flatly.

Sam and Sully both hid a grin as Nate said, "Oh, right. Yeah, totally obvious." He winked at Cassie, and she grinned, sitting down at the table next to her uncles. Sam gave her a side-armed hug.

"So clearly we need to get to the Canary Islands," Elena said. She looked at her husband. "Maybe-"

"Ohhh no," Nate cut her off. "No, there's no way I'm letting you go."

"Why not?" Elena asked. "Sam and I make a great team."

Sam raised his mug at his sister-in-law in agreement. "And you're not exactly in the best shape right now," she added.

"No way," Nate repeated firmly. "For one thing, someone's gotta make sure our business doesn't go belly-up during all this."

"Nate, if the world ends, we won't really have to worry about that," Elena argued.

He paused. "Fair. But, look, Sam told me about your run-in with Warrick the other night. I don't trust him around you as far as I can throw him, and let's face it, right now I'm not throwin' much of anything. Besides," he added, nodding past Elena at Cassie, "someone's gotta take care of our kid. We can't just leave her alone."

"Especially if Warrick's done his homework, as I suspect he probably has," Sully agreed. "Nate's right, you shouldn't be anywhere near that guy."

"But I just helped!" Cassie protested. "I wanna come with you guys! I can help you more!"

"Absolutely not," Elena told her. "No, your dad's right."

Nate blinked. "Wait, I am?"

Elena fixed him with a glare. "As much as I hate to admit it, yes. Look, I'll take Cassandra back to New Orleans and work on finishing the Tia Alma deal, and editing the footage for our upcoming episodes. Cassie can finish up her schoolwork so we can get it all turned in. The three of you should go to Spain and stop Warrick and Maria."

Cassie said, "But Mom-"

"Nope, kiddo. That's it. That's final." Nate could hear it in his wife's voice that she wasn't happy with the turn of events, but he also knew that she agreed with him.

It didn't make him feel better.

Cassie got up and stalked to her room. They heard the door click shut in the hall.

Nate sighed, running a hand down his face. "Guys, can you give the two of us a minute?" Nate asked Sam and Sully. The two of them nodded, getting up from the table and making their way to the stern to go sit out on the swim deck, leaving Elena and Nate alone in the cabin.

"We just can't seem to stay out of trouble, can we?" Nate groaned, leaning back against the couch cushions and closing his eyes.

"Pretty sure trouble finds us, it's a Drake family trait," Elena replied. "I thought we both agreed after…after Avery, that we'd be done with all this."

"Can we?" Nate asked. "With the Chalice out there, and nobody else knowing what we know? Can we just walk away from this?"

He looked at her. "You tell me that we can, and I'll do it," he promised.

Elena sighed. "No," she said finally. "I don't trust anybody else with this. You and Sam and Sully….you guys have to be the ones. I don't like it, and it pisses me off that it's the truth, but it really is." She shook her head. "We have to save the world, again."

"I hate that you're disappointed," Nate told her. "I can hear it in your voice. But we can't leave Cassie-"

"Believe me, I'd love to be coming with you," Elena said. "The fact is, I can't just walk away from this. I tried, once. And as much as you drive me crazy with this damn hunt for fortune and glory and mystical nonsense…" Elena ran a hand down his face and took his hand. "It's part of the reason I love you so much. But I will tell you this, Nathan Drake." She took his chin in both her hands. "So help me God, if you don't come back to Cassie and I in one piece, I will drop you where you stand, or I will raise you from the dead and kill you myself, and don't think I won't figure out how to do it."

"Oh, I'm well aware," Nate replied quietly, seriously. He sighed. "Cassie. I should-"

"No, let me worry about that," Elena said. "That kid thinks the world of you. She wants to be just like you."

"Oh, God," Nate breathed, only half-joking.

Elena nodded with a small smile. "I know, right? I know we tried so hard to mix family life and our crazy adventures into something normal for her."

"Yeah, that's kinda coming back to bite us in the ass," Nate said.

His wife nodded, resting her head against his shoulder.

A laptop screen was shoved in their faces, and Elena and Nate looked up to see Cassie, eyes red-rimmed from crying, holding her laptop in front of them. "Maria Dominquez is on the 3:10 to Madrid," she said. "Seat 2A in first class. Warrick is leaving tomorrow morning on a private jet from Miami straight into Tenerife." She snapped the laptop shut and stalked back to her bedroom.

The two of them sat in silence for a moment. "We should really talk about this whole hacking thing," Nate said.

"I know you taught her how to shoot a gun over Christmas break," Elena countered.

The two of them stared at each other.

"About that whole 'normal' thing," Nate said, shaking his head.

Elena closed her eyes. "Yeah," she said. "I know."