Uncharted Fanfiction

Aftermath: Chapter Three

Description: Nathan struggles with feelings he's been avoiding for far too long. Elena takes a turn for the worse.

*He was back inside his dreams which felt more like nightmares*

"Compassion is the enemy, mercy defeats us." Lazarevitch's words haunted him.

"Killing us won't get you anywhere" Elena tries to reason with Lazarevitch. *she's always looking for the good in everyone, even assholes like him…or me* he thought.

"Killing him yes, but you? Lazarevitch points his gun at Elena closing in on her but not before Nate steps in between them.

"You hurt her, you'll get nothing from me." Nate threatens.

"Well then it appears we are at a stalemate, unless I add another pawn to the board. Bring her in!" Chloe is thrown into the room leaving Elena on one side of Nate and Chloe on the other, a gun pointed at both of their heads.

"Shhhit" he brings his fingers to his eyes at the crease of his brow not knowing what to do. *Think Nate, think!*

"Who would you sacrifice and who would you save? This one?" he points the gun at Elena "or maybe this one?" he points the gun at Chloe.

He had been avoiding his feelings far too long. Chloe on the one hand satisfied his wild side. Her unpredictable nature excited him and kept him on his toes. But she wasn't trustworthy and it was clear she was in it only for herself most of the time. And Elena, well…she made him feel like he had never felt before, like he was more than just some treasure hunter, some thief only looking to get rich quick. She gave him purpose, a reason behind all that he did. Sure they argued, but she challenged him to be a better man.

His heart was torn between the thrill of discovery and the life of a treasure hunter or the life of a good man, something he didn't always think he was until he met Elena.

"Enough!" The conflict rose within him, it was enough to bring him back into the real world and finally wake him up. He opened his eyes and blinked slowly a few times to clear away the haze. When he came to, he found himself inside in a bed next to Elena's, Sully at his bedside asleep in his chair, feeling guilt for causing him so much pain. He looked down at himself and noticed he had new clothes on and bandages around his torso to cover his wound. "Sully?"

Sully startled awake "Nate! Oh thank God" he let out a sigh of relief. "Here", he handed him antibiotics and pain killers along with some water. "Take these". Nate reluctantly swallowed them down. "You owe me a belt" Sully said trying to make light of all that had just happened.

"Did…did you undress me? Sully, I like you but not that much". There was that wise-ass humor Sully had known so well. It helped put him at ease after a long night of waiting not knowing if he was going to be ok. "Sully, what happened? his head was still groggy "How long was I out?"

"Nate, you don't remember?" he sounded concerned.

He shook his head confused.

"You've been out for the better half of a day" Sully said with a tone of worry in his voice Nate wasn't used to hearing. It was uncomfortable for them both.

"And you've just been watching me sleep, kinda creepy don't ya think?" he tried to break the tension. Sully rolled his eyes and lit a cigar to take away some of the stress of yesterday's events. "At least I don't snore in my sleep" he returned fire.

Nathan tried to recall the last few days, his fever had finally broke and his body begun to heal now that he was able to sleep after getting the help he needed. Chloe walked in after hearing their voices. "Glad to see someone's back to his old self"

"Thanks Chloe…" Nate replied.

"I was talking about Victor, you had him worried sick" Chloe redirected the conversation having a hard time processing the fact that Nate could have died if Sully didn't get there in time and that she couldn't help him when he needed it the most.

"Aw Sully, I'm touched", there was his sarcastic charm again. It was Drake's defense mechanism when his emotions became too hard for him to handle. Sully was like a father to him, in fact he was the only father figure he ever had in his life considering his own father abandoned him and his brother Sam at an orphanage after his mother died when they were young. Knowing he had Sully worried over him troubled Nate. He didn't like feeling like he was burdening anyone.

"Nate, you almost gave me a goddamn heart attack", Sully's tone was more serious and Nate knew he had really scared him this time.

It had been five days since they emerged from Shambhala and there was still no sign of improvement from Elena. The blast over pressure had damaged her internally including her ears, lungs, and intestinal tract and she had thermal burns from the explosion in addition to the shrapnel which penetrated her head, chest, and abdomen resulting in significant blood loss. They were able to remove most of the shrapnel from her body and clean out her wounds, but she had lost a lot of blood and they were running out of equipment and running out of time.

She had an IV hooked up to her, dripping fresh blood into her system. They were in the middle of a blood transfusion that they had started while Drake was passed out. It was better off that way considering he would have only gotten in the way.

"What did I miss?" Nate said after seeing it all.

"Blood transfusion. We're lucky Chloe is a universal donor." Sully caught him up to speed and gave him a look Nate understood without needing to hear it. He had been very short with Chloe lately and he knew she was only trying to help.

He tried apologizing "Chloe, I.." but he only managed to get out two words before Elena started convulsing, her body rejecting the blood and her immune system attacking itself, confused by the foreign substance now invading her veins.

Within seconds, she was swarmed by many Tibetan healers and doctors that were nearby monitoring other patients who had been affected by the attack on their town earlier that week.

Nate ran over to Elena faster than Chloe or Sully could find him after they both looked at Elena and realized something was wrong. "What's happening? What's wrong with her? Please!" Nate tried desperately to make his way through the doctors to get to her. They pushed him away, muttering what could only be curse words in Tibetan, motioning angrily towards Chloe and Sully as if to say "get him out of here now!" Chloe and Sully grabbed him on either side and tried to pull him towards the door, but despite both their efforts, Drake was stronger, motivated by the fear of losing her and the guilt of it being his fault.

"Let me go!" he fought back aggressively. "Dammit kid, get out of the way!" Sully shouted, but it was as if Nate didn't even hear him. He summoned all the strength he could muster and ripped out of their grasp. The doctors were busy trying to stabilize Elena when Nate broke through again. He needed to see her, he needed her to know he was there for her.

"Aw, screw this!" Sully grabbed a nearby copper candlestick and whacked Nate over the back of the head.

"Oooowww" Nate grabs the back of his head with his hand and stumbles a few feet sideways. Stunned, he looks over at Sully "Sully, what the hell?!"

"Damn, I thought that would knock you out for sure." Sully replied.

Nate looked at him offended.

"What? You don't listen! Now get out of here and let them do what they have to so that they can save her damn life, you idiot!" Sully stood between Nate and Elena, candlestick still at the ready for another round.

Chloe pulled open the tent curtain for him, sarcastically motioning to show him the way out.

He sneered, curling his lip in disdain knowing he had lost the right to be around her. *Stupid Nate, that was stupid* he thought as he retreated out of the tent, escorted by Chloe and Sully and they all sat outside around the fire.

Nate had gotten up almost instantly. He couldn't stand not knowing what was going on and was pacing around anxiously, his hands nervously kept busy.

"You're driving me nuts! I'll go in and check on her, alright?!" Sully said frustrated with Nate and worried as well about Elena.

Nate walked over as if to come too. "Ah, ah! I still don't trust you. You wait here." he handed the candlestick to Chloe.

"Nate darling please come sit down by the fire, you're going to freeze to death over there." Chloe patted the spot next to her with her hand, inviting him over to sit next to her. His adrenaline had kept him from feeling the numbness in his toes and fingers from the cold. He yielded and sat down next to her putting his hands up to the warm fire.

She looked over at him as he tried to hide his body shivering, trembling in fear, anger, and exhaustion, realizing how cold he was. "Nate, take a second and calm down, you're shaking."

He recalled how he was in the middle of an apology before all of this happened. "Chloe I'm sorry about before, I was being an asshole when you were only trying to help." his voice softened towards her.

"It's alright. It's been a long week and you've been through a lot, we all have" she put her hand on his knee trying to enjoy having him to herself beside her for the moment.

He didn't move, he just stared into the fire memorized thinking of all the possibilities of what Sully might say when he came back. She looked at his shirt and noticed some blood had seeped through where his bullet wound was. He hadn't exactly taken it easy like he was told, putting some stress on the healing process.

"I don't think it's supposed to do that" she gestured at the blood stain on his shirt.

"Huh?" he looked at her confused, then followed her gaze to his abdomen realizing what she was talking about. "Oh, that. It's nothing".

"Nate I'm sorry, it's just Harry…he came up behind me so fast and…I wish you hadn't come after me but I'm glad you did" she reached out and took his hand in hers hoping to elicit a response from him.

This time, Nate's body reacted to her touch and a shiver went up his arm. He had started this whole expedition with Chloe and they had been intimate in the past, but this time felt different. He had forgotten everything that happened leading up to this point until now.

He felt awkward, he needed to find a way to retrieve his hand subtly. "Don't mention it" he gave her a half-hearted smile, squeezed her hand once and let go.

She had sensed that something had changed in Nate ever since they ran into Elena in Nepal, but she had to be sure. She moved in closer to him, "Well I guess I'll just have to find a way to make it up to you" she leaned in closer bringing her face towards his going in for a kiss. It all happened so fast, faster than Nate could realize or process what she was trying to do. Just as she was about to make contact, Sully came running out of the tent "Nate, come quick!" He jumped up not knowing what to expect and ran over to meet Sully, leaving Chloe behind.

"What?! What's going on? Is she ok?!" every possible scenario ran through his head in a flash and he feared the worst.

"Get over here, it's Elena…she's awake!"