Disclaimer: I don't own anything, everything belongs to Naghty Dog, Sony and other respective owners.
I am not an English-speaker, so if there are mistakes, forgive me, I am doing my best to avoid them.
"Sully?" she asked surprised, looking out the front door and letting a cool, morning breeze inside the house. "What are you doing here?"
"Hello sweetheart" greeted her a gray-haired man. Victor Sullivan was standing on the porch of her house with a cigar in his hand, exhaling a cloud of white smoke. "I've dropped by to see how you're doing."
"Well…" she sighed, opening the door wider. "I've been better. Do you want to come in?"
"If you don't mind…" Sullivan replied a bit hesitantly, passing her in the doorway. Elena slammed the door behind him and immediately hurried towards the kitchen, wiping her eyes furtively. This gesture and the sight of reddened cheeks and shadows under her eyes didn't escape Sully's attention.
"Would you like something to drink?" a female voice from inside the house reached him after a second.
"I didn't have time to drink coffee yet" answered Sully, hanging his leather jacket on a peg, previously pushing aside a pile of Nate's overcoats. "So if you have some good one, then I wouldn't refuse."
He turned and walked towards the living room. Suddenly he noticed a row of three suitcases standing by the window. One of these was still open, filled with women's jewelry, shoes and books. Shelves in cabinets around the room were half empty. There was a huge pile of papers on the kitchen table, and on the back rest of the sofa hanged unfolded clothes.
"You're going somewhere?" he asked, pointing his cigar towards the suitcases. Elena didn't even turn to him, busy of percolating coffee. After a moment she launched the device and intense, energizing aroma of freshly brewed coffee filled the room.
"Sort of" she answered after a few moments. "I'm going to my parents' place, to Colorado. Actually, it turned out well that you came. Do you have some time? You could wait a while, I would finish packing up and leave you my pair of keys; you could turn them over to Nate."
She was surprised that she was able to say out those words with so much calmness; her voice didn't even tremble. She began to move the dishes in the hanging cabinets in search of a saucer.
"Well..." Sully sighed, sitting down at the kitchen table and pushing away a pile of papers and empty, torn envelopes. "I must admit that I'd be surprised, if after that excess of his you didn't make such a decision."
Elena turned slightly towards Sullivan, watching him uncertainly for a moment, then smiled sadly.
"Now you're the one to surprise me, Sully" she said, placing a cup of coffee with sugar bowl in front of him and taking a seat on the opposite side of the table. "Actually my idea was that Nate sent you here to distract me from doing such a thing."
"Far from it, darlin'" Sully sighed, adding three full teaspoons of sugar to coffee. Elena watched that in horror; certainly it was not a healthy habit, just like smoking cigars. She also realized that Sully didn't denied for a moment that it was Nate who sent him here. "From the very beginning I knew that this whole enterprise is a bad idea. But back then I was convinced that you know about everything."
Elena leaned on her elbows, burying her face in hands and combing her hair, as if she tried to collect from her mind all concerns and sorrows. For a while both remained silent; the only sound was a quiet music flowing from the radio in the corridor.
"Sully..." Elena asked suddenly, without looking up. "Who is that Sam? Is he really Nate's brother? Where did he come from so suddenly? How is it possible that through all these years I didn't know about him?"
Sully sighed, taking a sip of the black drink.
"To tell the truth darlin', until recent weeks Nate himself was firmly convinced that he no longer have a brother" he said, putting down the cup. "I also didn't know much about Samuel. He did with me and the kid couple of businesses, but I couldn't get to know him better. About fifteen years ago, during their escape from prison in Panama, he had been shot by the guards right at Nate's sight. As it turned out, it wasn't a mortal shot, but at that moment Nate was convinced that he had lost him and... he left him in that prison, saving his own life."
Sullivan paused for a long moment, puffing on his cigar.
"He had a hard time going through that death. He couldn't recover for long. So when Sam suddenly had risen up from the dead, a tremendous sense of guilt and fear of losing him again awakened within Nate's mind."
Elena watched Sullivan, visibly shocked. After a moment she lowered her head, staring at an invisible point on the table.
"Nate never told me anything."
"That was a goddamn mistake. And I won't vicariously repair his mistakes" Sully said, taking another sip of coffee. "He will tell you the details of the story himself."
"It's probably a little too late for this, Sully..." Elena sighed sadly. She played with a jagged-edged envelope, rolling it between her fingers into thin roll. "I'm sick of these mysteries, and now I've had enough of his lies, I don't wanna live like this anymore. It's over."
"Darlin'…" Sullivan leaned towards her. "You have the right to feel…"
"Sully, stop it, don't try to appease me" Elena rose her voice, giving him a glare. "I did nothing to deserve such treatment. I'm tired of fighting for this marriage. I don't want to live from one mad upsurge of his to another. He doesn't even consider me as a fully-fledged part of his life and doesn't want to share his problems with me. He can only bullshit me! I'm not going to be a red herring between his "businesses" once again..."
"Elena" Sully interrupted her with firm voice. She lifted her eyes to him in surprise; for the first time he didn't call her darlin' or sweetheart. "For God sake, you have no idea how much you're wrong when you say such things."
She shrugged and turned her head dismissively towards the kitchen's window. She began to tear the envelope into small pieces. Sullivan observed her for an instant and then continued.
"Since I met Nate, I only once saw him in state similar to the one he was in after the loss of brother, his last closest family member. Y'know when? In Nepal, when you were badly injured and unconscious for several days, and it wasn't even certain whether you will survive" he did a short break, as if he was remembering these events. "I think it's a little exaggerated reaction for a red herring, isn't it?"
Elena turned her gaze to Sully.
"I don't want to fall into pathetic tone, so try to understand me correctly. You know that I treat Nate like a son, which I never had... Anyway, all these years I comprehended so this relationship with him" Sullivan sighed, then puffed his cigar and blew a cloud of gray smoke into the air. "This is certainly the most unruly son that one can imagine. Stubborn as a mule... damn talented mule, you have to give him that. I always tried to rescue his ass when he fell into trouble, advise him when he was making mistakes and support his choices. I don't remember the exact moment when it occurred to me that Nate has changed since you stepped into his life. Now I am sure, that despite the weaker body, you are much stronger than he is. You are his signpost. Try to understand..." he leaned towards Elena, snatching shreds of the envelope out of her fingers and squeezing her hands gently "…you will always handle yourself. But without you he will act like a blind man, with no long-range goal in life, beyond a handful of goddamn gold coins... in the pursuit of which he will someday crack his neck. And then his glamorous life will be over. And nobody will remember him."
Her eyes welled up with tears. She swallowed, then patted friendly the back of Sully's hand. These words suddenly brought her comfort. Didn't cause sympathy for Nate, nor resulted in diminution of the degree of his guilt... but they lessened, in some small part, her anger and resentment on him.
"Why he didn't tell me, Sully?" she sighed softly. Sullivan looked at her with watchful eye.
"He should explain it to you by himself. Listen, darlin', I really don't intend to justify him or relieve him in any way. I am simply aware that sometimes people, even acting in good faith, behave incredibly, unbelievably stupid towards people whom they love the most" he answered, leaning back in his chair, puffing on a cigar. "I am also aware of one more thing: the reason that Nate gave you on Madagascar was probably ass taken, as indeed you said it at the time."
Elena smiled. She remembered Nate standing in the motel room, in clothes stained with dried mud, with this goofy look on his face, saying his pathetic and condescending I wanted to protect you. Yes, it certainly wasn't the real reason. It happened already, that he's been protecting her, but at the same time he didn't have to conceal anything. Her thoughts immediately reached Yemen, when Nate made her stay and flew to the desert alone to save Sullivan. As it turned out, due to this decision he most likely saved her from certain death; and all this without a single lie.
A few weeks ago, just like once before during their relationship, Nate lacked the courage to tell her that he embarks on a journey for treasure. Elena began to understand that Nate was afraid of something and it was his fear that forced him to make such a decision. But what was he afraid of...?
"Listen, sweetheart" Sullivan began again, snatching Elena out of her thoughts. He was swinging the rest of the coffee on the bottom of a cup. "Actually... I didn't tell you the real reason why I came to you today. You see... from dozen or so hours I haven't had any contact with them."
Elena looked up at Sully. She felt her heart slowing down.
"I'm starting to seriously worry that they have gotten themselves into some goddamn trouble again. I know more or less where they headed up to, I am departing right away... I wanted to ask if you wanna fly with me."
Elena kept her eyes on Sully, touching a wedding band on her finger. Even before Sully finished speaking, she had known her decision. If Nate was in danger she just had to help him. He was her husband… still. But deep within her heart matured the real reason for this decision. She wanted to give themselves the last chance for one honest conversation. She wanted to look into her husband's eyes and get the answer to her nagging questions; find out whether there is still a chance for them for a shared future.
"Well, I have huge experience in tracking him down" she sighed with a smile, rising abruptly from the table. "Wait a quarter, I will pack myself up, call my parents and we will be ready to go."
"That's my girl!" Sully praised her, then carried off a cup to the sink. For a moment he watched Elena bustling around the house, collecting single pieces of clothing and other trinkets to green bag. Within a few minutes she dug up all the equipment needed for such escapades from the depths of the house, as if they were prepared for regular use. She was focused and determined.
"I'll meet you outside" Sullivan said suddenly, directing his steps towards the corridor "I am sure Nate wouldn't hesitate to shoot me to death if I he had known that I'd been watching his wife packing her thongs and bras…"
"For God's sake, Sully! Everything stays in the family!" Elena winked, unable to stop laughing.
"Don't push your luck!" Sullivan shouted from the corridor, waving his hand. On his way to the front door he stopped for a moment in front of a huge wedding photo. He looked carefully at Nate, who glanced with a smile at his newly married wife standing beside him. That glance of his was so natural, as if Elena was always there, by his side. This is really your last chance to make things right and start again, kid – Sullivan thought, grabbing his jacket and walking outside in the middle of the New Orleans' bustle. Just try for once to not screw this up.