*A/N: Yes, I know it has been a very long time since I've posted a new chapter. I apologize for that. Unfortunately, my hard drive that I kept everything on decided to just up and die on me. Nothing was able to be recovered. I lost all my ideas for future chapters, scenes/full chapters that I had written out to be used later in the story, and the timeline/fact sheet that I was using as a reference to keep from contradicting myself.
I had story commissions that I had been working on that were also lost. Those were the higher priority for me to work on and I just finished catching up on those, so I had time to write a short chapter in order to keep you guys from waiting too long. Hopefully it will keep you sated while I try to get the timeline back together. Again, sorry for the wait, and I hope you guys enjoy.*
Rafe had pulled his blanket off his bed, then carefully arranged it in the center so he'd have a comfortable place to sit. He refused to sit on his pillow; at least he could make sure that the spot where his ass made contact with the blanket wouldn't ever get near his face.
He had the encyclopedia open in front of him, and he took out the pencil and notebook he had used to write the apology note- although he was still confused as to why he had them. Did they think he'd want to keep some kind of journal during his stay? Well, maybe a lesser man would need one to remember each and every grievance he'd been though since arriving, but he knew that those were burned into his memory. He wouldn't need anything else to help him pay them back for each and every infraction.
The notebook would be useful in helping him keep track of his research, though. He made sure to make everything he wrote down be either vague or indecipherable to anyone but him, just in case someone else flipped through to see what he was up to. He wouldn't put that past them.
He got about halfway through a page before someone knocked on his door, and he quickly slammed the encyclopedia shut. "Come in."
"Hey, kid," Sully swung the door open. "Your laundry should be ready to move to the drier. That's just at the level of complexity that I can handle, so no need for Sam." If he thought there was anything strange about how he found Rafe, he didn't show it.
"There's never a need for Sam," Rafe commented as he forced himself to slide off his bed, taking great care not to wince. As far as he was concerned, that morning had never happened, and he didn't need to remind anyone of it.
"Sure there is," Sully chuckled, "Without him, you'd be stuck with my cooking."
"Without him, I would have died in peace," Rafe muttered and walked towards the door.
Sully chose to ignore the comment and stepped back to get out of his way.
When Rafe reached the end of the hallway, he didn't see Sam in the kitchen or in the living room. That meant he was either on a walk or was in his room sulking about his mother. He didn't smell any smoke, though, so he assumed that he was out of the house.
The laundry room was just as he left it. He had half expected the washing machine to blow up again, since he still wasn't convinced that was his fault to begin with, but for now it seemed to be working fine. He was able to haul his clothes out and move them into the drier, then Sully threw some kind of cloth square in with it and fiddled with some dials. The old machine took a few worrying seconds to start up and then it started vibrating violently, but when it got up to speed things evened out and it began to rumble steadily along.
Sully watched it for a moment, just to make sure that it wouldn't tip over, then he turned to look at Rafe. "Want a beer, kid?"
Rafe looked at him and narrowed his eyes. Was this a trick? No… He didn't think Victor would do that. Still, it was odd. They weren't at that level of comradery. Then again, Victor would probably share a beer with a rock if he had no one else around. "I thought I wasn't allowed to have any."
"You're not, usually," Sully agreed, "But it's been quite the day for all of us. I don't think one beer would hurt." Besides, he was still proud of how quickly the kid apologized earlier, even if it was under mysterious circumstances. It might also help loosen his tongue regarding whatever he found out there…
Rafe turned it over in his mind, then concluded that it wouldn't be harmful. "Sure, as long as it's not the shitty kind," he said.
"That depends on your tastes," Sully shrugged, "Come on. I'll let you know what we have."
Of course, they didn't have any of his favorite brands of beer, but they also didn't have the kind that looked and tasted like watered down piss, so Rafe was able to find one that he deemed acceptable. At least it didn't come from a can.
Sully was being mysterious about where they actually kept the beer, so Rafe had to wait out on the porch while Sully fetched them.
A few minutes later, after much grunting and cursing, Sully came outside to join Rafe on the porch.
"It would have been easier if you just let me help."
"What are you talking about? I was just fine."
"Sure you were." Rafe took a sip from his beer. "Have you done anything about recycling?"
"Yeah yeah, I'll get a bin we can start putting stuff in for now, and I'll talk with Nadine about it later. I don't think she'll have too much of a problem with it."
"Good," Rafe nodded.
Sully walked over and leaned against his favorite spot on the railing. The ocean was visible from one direction, and the foliage in the opposite. He could just barely make out Sam smoking down by the dock. Somewhere in the back of his mind, another memory triggered.
"Tell me again why we should do this?"
Sully held back a sigh. This was why he didn't work with kids. "We need a boat to get to that island you wanted to explore, don't we?"
"That doesn't answer why we need to do this," the young Sam Drake looked at him defiantly.
"You'd rather I bring your brother instead?" Sully raised a brow.
"I'd rather you go by yourself," Sam grit his teeth. "Aren't you supposed to be some great conman?"
"Not so loud!" Sully hushed him and looked around the dock to make sure no one had heard. They weren't in the sales building yet, but it didn't hurt to be cautious. "Look, son, I never claimed to be the best, but I do know that people will trust you more when you've got a kid around."
"Don't call me that!" Sam glared and crossed his arms. "I'm not a kid, either. I'm twenty now, so this isn't going to work."
"You can pass for younger," Sully assured him, continuing in his mind, especially with how you're acting right now. "Look, you wanted to keep your brother out of the illegal stuff, right? So you can buck up and deal with it. It'll take an hour at most and then it'll be over."
Sam stayed silent, still not buying it.
"Goddamnit, Sam, it's not like I'm pretending to be your father, and it's all an act anyway. Don't take it so seriously."
"I still don't like it," Sam muttered, then took a deep breath. "Fine, let's get this over with."
"Thank you," Sully nodded, not even bothering to give him an encouraging smile. The kid would probably find it patronizing. "Just keep quiet and let me do the talking, alright?"
Without waiting for an answer, Sully pushed open the glass door and walked into the dealership. There were glorified pictures of boats on the walls, catalogues set out on tables everywhere, and a few posters boasting about the newest technologies. They were sure to snare a few new buyers into spending more than they could afford. Hell, any new buyer was automatically spending more than they could afford; everyone thinks that a boat is a great investment until they actually own one.
He made eye contact with one of the employees, who perked up immediately and began walking over. "Hello, sir. Can I help you with anything?"
"I sure hope so," Sully smirked, laying his charms on thick. "I'm looking for something I can rent to take my nephew fishing for the next few weeks." He put his hand affectionately on Sam's shoulder, just to have it shrugged off immediately.
The salesman smiled sympathetically. He must have had kids of his own. Good, Sully could use that. He and the salesman began talking details with Sully leaning heavily on the importance of safety, just to drive the "family" bit home. After a few minutes, Sully noticed Sam begin to walk around, but figured he was bored and looking for something to do. Better that than running his mouth.
It wasn't until they had "settled" on a decent price for the model that Sully needed that he realized what the kid was doing. Sam had made his way to the other side of the salesman, pretending to be interested, and decided to try out his pickpocketing skills.
Sully had to fight back the urge to groan at the rookie mistake. Instead, he immediately reached out and grabbed Sam's hand with the man's wallet still in it. "Ah, I don't think so," he said sternly. "Give it back."
Sam was glaring daggers at him, and it took a raised brow to get him to comply. The man took it, suddenly looking uncomfortable. "Um…"
"To the car. Now," Sully ordered, hoping Sam had the common sense to listen and not blow up on him. It was close, but eventually Sam turned around and walked angrily out of the building.
"Sorry about that," Sully said quickly. "He, uh, fell in with the wrong crowd and his parents were hoping a summer away would set him straight again…"
The salesman bought it, thankfully, and even gave him a better price out of sympathy- not that Sully was ever planning on actually paying. It really was a miracle how that one had worked out. Sam had accidentally played all the right cards and Sully had been able use it.
After another twenty minutes, the papers were signed under false names and the salesman had taken a fake check. Now Sully just had to get out of there.
Sam was waiting for him outside by the car, scowling. "What the hell was that?!"
At least the kid could follow directions sometimes. "That was me cleaning up your mistake," Sully snapped, unhappy about it himself. "What the hell were you thinking?!"
"Um, maybe that we'd get something a little extra out of this?"
"Oh, yeah, and have the police on our tail the minute we step out the door," Sully agreed sarcastically, "You can't lift a wallet if you don't have a good escape."
"I would have been fine."
Sully took a deep breath, then reached in his pocket and threw his car keys to Sam. Realistically, Sam wasn't his kid, and there was no use getting himself worked up if he couldn't do anything about it. He just vowed to himself never to take the older Drake on one of these trips again. "Let's head out before he calls that check in. Remember which dock we're meeting at?"
"Of course," Sam huffed. "I'm not an idiot. Just don't keep me waiting too long, old man."
Goddamn, this kid could push his buttons.
"Are you sure that's safe?" Rafe asked, bringing him out of the reverie. He was eying the railing that Sully was leaning against. "I don't like the creak it made…"
"Relax, kid," Sully smirked. "I lean against here all the time. Don't tell me you're starting to worry about me now."
"I'm not worried about you," Rafe said defensively, "I'm worried about having to fix it."
"Don't worry," Sully stood up straight and kicked a rail. "This thing's sturdy as-"
The post snapped and brought half the railing with it to the ground.
The two men stared at where it landed, then Rafe gulped down the last few drags of beer. "Sturdy as everything else is in this place," he commented. "I'm going back to my room."
"Right…" He thought having things fall apart inconveniently was more of a Drake thing. Hopefully it wasn't rubbing off on him.