Chapter 1:

"You ready, kid?". Sully always seemed to ask questions that no one in their situation could answer. What was he supposed to say, Sure Sully, I'm totally pumped to be lowered down fifty feet from a ceiling over a large barely visible fortress protecting a golden crown that once belonged to the last Mughal emperor and King of Delhi. I'm not even concern about the infinite problems that can happened right now or the countless charges we'll face if we're caught. Nate simply grabbed a new piece of gum and said, "Sure."

Sully lowered Nate as he focused on reaching the control box on the wall. Once he had the sensors shut down, he used his gum wad to block the cameras' signal, so it froze on the security screen. He managed to reach the case and use a handheld power saw to cut along the seams on the case. Nate reached inside and lifted the crown gradually, marveling at the craftsmanship of the artifact.

"I got it. Beam me up, Scotty.", he said quietly.

"Very funny, kid.". Sully was never much for jokes, especially on a job.

Just as Sully was raising Nate up, the line snagged for a second causing Nate to fumble with the crown. Just before it fell, Nate snatched it up. Breathing a sigh of relief, he signaled Sully to pull him up. Unfortunately, that when Nate's bubblegum wrapper fell from his pocket, tripping the floor sensors and thereby setting off all the alarms.

Sully and Nate, in perfect unison, muttered, "Oh, crap!". Sully finally got Nate pulled through the opening just as security made themselves know. Sully grabbed the crown and put it in his bag. "Hey!", shouted Nate.

Sully began running, "Split up! Last one home cleans the cat's litterbox!". Sully jumped off the roof and onto a moving bus. At the same moment, security broke onto the rooftop.

"Dammit!". With no other choice, Nate ran and jumped off the roof. Unfortunately, he missed the moving double decker bus and instead landed on the parked Mercedes. Thankfully, nothing felt broken; bruise, definitely, but not broken. Nate signaled for a taxi and handed the cabbie fifty quid to get out of there asap. As they pulled away from the scene, Nate felt sorry for the guy who found their car like that.

The next day, Nate and Sully went to the meet-up place to hand over the crown to their investors. They had approached Nate and Sully about the crown being returned to authorities in India, since that was where the crown truly belonged. They offered a generous price, which is the only thing Sully heard. The meet-up was to be at midnight at an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of London.

When they arrived, the main investor, Mr. Patel, greeted them with a big smile only a car salesmen would use. "The conquering heroes returned. I must say your reputation does precede you. I must also admit I doubted those tales of your hunt for the lost treasures of Magellan, but here you both stand proving us all wrong. Gentlemen, I think I speak for all my investors when I say we are eternally grateful."

Sully smirked, "Thanks, but you can drop the ass kissing and just hand us the money."

Mr. Patel's smile dropped fraction before he continued, "Of course! Félix…", he snapped his fingers and the big burly guy to the left threw a bag full of money. "And of course, the crown…"

Nate chose this moment to speak finally, "You know something Mr. Patel, I just want you to know how great it is that you're returning the crown to its proper home. I just wanted to say that."

"Oh, of course Mr. Drake. My goal is to have all of my country's treasures returned to their respected homes."

Nate grinned, "Yeah, I mean it important since it was worn by the last monarch of India, Awadh."

"Yes, of course."

Nate continued, "Yeah, funny though cause Bahadur Shah was the last monarch of India. They also referred to them as makutas, not crowns." Mr. Patel's smile disappeared completely, "Sure, I mean anyone could miss that… but did you really think we wouldn't know counterfeit money when we see it?" That's when all hell broke loose.

Patel's men whipped out guns, and Nate and Sully dove behind the shipping crates. Bullets flew everywhere, but Nate and Sully couldn't let them get away. They had information they needed. Patel's men had to reload, giving Nate and Sully their chance. They jumped Patel's men, taking each one down. Soon, all that was left was Patel, who was currently running out the back. Patel made it to his car, but one of his cohorts shouted, "Sir, the girl… she escaped!".

"Forget her, we'll find her later. She couldn't have gone far. Drive, now!"

Nate and Sully made it to the back loading docking in time to watch Patel leave. Nate angrily kicked a nearby bottle. Sully patted his shoulder, "Easy kid, least he didn't get away with the loot."

"Doesn't matter, Sully. He had information about Sam, he had to! Now we'll never know." Ever since Nate received that postcard six months ago warning Nate to watch his back, he was determined to find Sam. Sully was skeptical, but he knew how much it meant to Nate to know if his brother was truly alive.

"Isn't over yet kid… come on. Let's get out of here. We'll regroup in the morning." As they turned to leave, Nate heard a voice mumble. He walked over to a group of trashcans. Suddenly, someone jumped up wielding a pocketknife. Nate held his hands up defensively. At first, he noticed the handcuffs on the person's wrist, but the second thing he noticed stopped him dead in his tracks. Her face had barely changed since her last saw her. "Gracie?"

"Nate?"

Credit to for the research

Leave a review. This story is based on the 2022 movie, not the game. Please, don't come for me. lol