Chapter 5
Lights Out
Nathan and Sam followed Sully. Sam, walking said, "So uh Sully, looks like the years have been kind to you." Sully laughed and replied, "Thanks. I'll just chock it up to going vegan." "Really?" Sam asked, remembering how much Sully loved his sirloins. Sully laughed, "Ha! Are you kidding me? Oh no!" Nathan shook his head, then saw Sam turn and look over an outdoor balcony. "Hey," Nathan said, "What are you doing?" Sam sighed and replied, "Oh, just going over our exit strategy. It's going to get hairy." Nathan chuckled, "Oh come on, relax! We've gone through tougher stuff than this." "Yeah I know, I know," Sam said nervously, "I'm just trying not to imagine what they'll do if they catch us." Nathan replied, "Sam, if things go bad, we'll be dead long before they catch us." Sam nodded, "That's a comforting point," he said. "Yeah," replied Nathan. With that, they met back up with Sully, who strode into the library. The room had chestnut bookshelves lined with books, and a roaring fireplace. There were several couples sitting on the Victorian era furniture chatting the day away. Nathan then left the library, and followed Sam and Sully down to the main entryway to the mansion. Just beyond that was the main auction floor. Most of the people were sitting on the many tables in the massive and ornate room, sipping merlot and champagne, eating escargot and other delicacies. It was way too fancy for Nathan's tastes. As he tried his best to follow Sully, he was listening to the truly awful music that was playing, "Of course they play cheap European techno," he muttered with disgust. He passed a statue of Zeus, and made his way up to the auctioneer's podium. There was the cross. Oh well, no more time to waste. He made his way back and saw Sully in front of the doorway leading to the cellar. Nathan nodded to Sully, and turned the knob. "OK," said Sully, "We'll need these." He held out three earpieces so they could talk back and forth to each other. Nathan put the piece in and walked through the door. "Good luck," said Sully before he closed the door. Sully then took a drag on his cigar, and walked back to the main auction floor. As he stood there, keeping an eye on the cross, he heard a voice behind him, "Hands in the air," said the voice. Sully chuckled and turned around, "Hi Victor," "Hello Nadine," said Sully. Nadine was a smooth operating woman with a head of curly black hair, a pair of elegant but muscular arms, and a sophisticated sounding British accent. She was wearing a sparkling red dress, and was holding a glass of wine in her hand. "Pleasure to see you again," Sully said. He chuckled and said, "Hardly recognize you in that dress." Nadine, with her hands on her hips huffed and said, "Well you know…sometimes you have to get all dolled up…Looking nice by the way." Sully smiled, "Not so bad yourself," he said. Nadine didn't reply. She looked around the room and leaned against a table. "I feel so out of place here…" she said, "Can't tell you what a relief it is to run into another English speaker…even if you are an American." Sully laughed and said, "Well you'll have to blame my parents for that one." Nadine chuckled and said, "I was on my way to the bar. Can I get you something?" "Yeah," said Sully, "A scotch." "Be right back," Nadine said as she gracefully made her way to the bar. Shaking his head Sully said, "Hey Nate, did you catch all that?" Nathan, in the cellars replied, "Yes I did, sounds like the lady is trying to buy you a drink." Sam began changing into his waiter's outfit, and Nathan heard Sully say, "Yeah…Nadine Ross is buying me a drink." Nathan thought he'd heard of her. "Wait," Nathan said, "Nadine Ross? Doesn't she own that army-for-hire?" "Yeah she does," said Sully, "It's called Shoreline." Nathan chuckled and said, "I thought you'd had a run-in with them." Sully huffed, "That's putting it mildly," he said, "Fortunately she does not seem to be holding a grudge." Sam looked at Nathan and said, "Alright, I'm ready." Nathan said, "OK, Sully? We're all good to go down here. Just…try and stay out of trouble would ya?" Sully replied, "I'll try." Sam began making his way through the food cellars. There was all kinds of gourmet food and other random foodstuffs. "Man," said Nathan, "They have enough food down here to feed a small town!" Sam said, "I wonder if they host weddings?" Nathan chuckled, "Oh yeah, they're a full service site," Nathan said, "Weddings, wine tastings, black market auctions…" "But do they have a DJ?" Sam asked. Nathan huffed. They sure did. A terrible one. Who plays European techno at an auction anyway? They continued through until they reached the wine cellar. Looking around for a vent, Sam soon spotted one. He looked at Nathan and said, "You ready?" Nathan nodded, "Let's go…" With that, he clambered into the vent. The auction was now only minutes away. "Vent's smaller than it looked…" Nathan said as he crawled through the metal vent. He coughed, "A lot dustier too…" Through the grates placed every so often, he could get a clear view of the food cellar. If he was lucky, he'd be able to go from the ventilation system to the power room. He had studied the plans to the Rossi Estate mansion, and he knew exactly where everything was at. Crawling through the vents suddenly he heard a door open. He stopped and peeped out of a grate. There were two waiter collecting more wine bottles. He motioned for Sam to stop. If they were to keep moving the clanking of the metal would alert them. Soon, they left, and Nathan continued through the vent. Crawling through even further, Sam met his stop. They were inside the waiter's suit closets. Inside were all of the waiter's clothes. Sam opened the grate, wished Nathan luck, and stealthily dropped in to change into his disguise. Nathan kept crawling through. "Sam you good?" he asked after a bit. "Yeah," Sam said through the earpiece, "These pants here are just a bit too tight…" he heard Sam grunt. "Well that's the style these days," Nathan said with a chuckle. Sam replied, "Well I'm going to head to the ball-room. See y—soo-" The signal cut off. "Sam?" Nathan said…no reply. "Sully?" no reply again. "Great," Nathan said, "Signal's gone." Beginning to get claustrophobic, Nathan continued inching through the vents. At this rate it would take quite a bit of time to reach the power room.
Laughing Nadine said, "I can't believe you got away with that!" Sully laughed and said, "Oh we did not!" a bit of cigar ash fell to the floor. Nadine chuckled, "And what about the horse?" Sully replied, "Fortunately we had a lot of carrots onboard." Sully looked and saw Sam walking with a tray of wine glasses on one hand, slowly but methodically making his way to the cross. "Recognize someone?" asked the astute Nadine. Sully shook his head, "Oh, I thought I did but no." Nadine nodded, but Sully could tell she didn't quite believe him. "Hey when am I going to get to meet that partner of yours?" asked Nadine, "Drake?" Sully replied, "Well that's ex-partner. Retired a bit ago. No, I've been flying solo for a while now. Drake's out." "Oh," Nadine said. "Last I heard he'd settled down and got married," Sully said. "Well then he might as well be dead right?" said a voice that wasn't Nadine's. It was a man Sully hadn't seen for a while, "Victor Sullivan!" said the man. Sully held out his hand, "Rafe." He said. It was Rafe, the same man that had murdered Vargas fifteen years before. His black hair was immaculately slicked back with an ungodly amount of hair gel. "How long has it been?" asked Rafe, "Ten years? Twelve?" Sully blew out a cloud of cigar smoke and answered, "Fifteen." Rafe chuckled, "It's amazing. All these years gone by and here we are still haggling over dead people's junk." "Really?" asked Sully, "Last I heard weren't you running your parent's business?" "My business now," Rafe said in a low voice, "But yes that is my day job." Sully chuckled and said, "Well you could probably afford everything on the block tonight." Rafe nodded his head side to side and said, "Well yeah…but what would be the point in that? These days I'm only looking for the good stuff. Big scores." Sully looked at Rafe, who he was feeling quite uneasy about, though his apparent look of total confidence didn't crack. "Any advice on what I should pick up tonight?" Rafe asked. Sully laughed and looked at Nadine, "Ha! Yeah, like I'd want to bid against him…" Sully went in close to Rafe and said quietly, "Uh…Just between you and me, I did notice they changed the order…I think somebody might be trying to rig this auction." A voice went over the intercom. She said, "Attention! We will begin bidding on our next item in a few minutes. An inlaid wooden crucifix from the Trott Estate." Sully nodded and looked at Nadine. He saw them exchange words and Nadine filled in Sully's curiosity. "Oh, yes," she said, "I and Rafe have teamed up on this one." Sully said, "Well I know when I'm a third wheel. You two kids have fun tonight." Sully turned to walk away, but Rafe grabbed his arm. "Just hold on Sully," said Rafe in a dark tone, "How'd you find out about it?" he asked. Though Sully knew he was talking about the cross, he decided to play dumb, "It?" Sully asked, "What 'it' is that Rafe?" He looked at Rafe right in the eyes and said, "Nadine I think your partner here has had too many bloody marys," Rafe knocked the glass of wine out of Sully's hand and yelled, "Don't play stupid with me old man!" People were looking at Rafe, who was fast on the track of making a major scene. Rafe glared at Sully and growled, "Now I don't know how you scammed your way in here…but if you think of bidding on Avery's cross I can tell you exactly how you're going to be leaving. In a body bag!" "Rafe!" Nadine said. Rafe, noticing the eyes of everyone nearby put his hand on Sully's shoulder and pasted a fake smile on his face. "Well," Rafe said, "You get my point." Sully glared back at Rafe and said, "Lovely seeing you." He began walking away. "Nate?" Sully called in, "Rafe!?" Sully growled, "Come on kid, where are you!?"
He had made it. Nathan was inside the electrical room. He was above the ceiling, and the ventilation system. Finding a ceiling grate, he kicked it away, and jumped down to the floor of the room. Dusting himself off, he sighed. He was finally out of that horrible ventilation system. He looked around for the circuit breakers. Looking around, he saw them in a separate room. There was a grated metal door to get inside. He tried the door, but it was locked. "Ah, crap!" Nathan said. He decided to try the earpiece, "Sam, Sully?" He heard Sully on the other end, "Kid, there you are! Where've you been?" "I made it," Nathan said, "A few close calls but…" "Yeah well if you're going to cut the power now would be a good time," Sully urged. "Yeah," Nathan said frustrated, "Well I'm going to need a minute to get to the electrical panel." Sully replied, "We don't have a minute kid. Rafe is about to walk out of here with your cross!" Nathan was confused, "Wait, what? Rafe!? Rafe is here!?" Nathan heard Sam on the other end say, "Yes, and as of right now he's got the highest bid." Nathan said, "Well…Sully, outbid him!" Sully replied, "With what! I don't have that kind of cash!" "Sully," said Nathan, "We're stealing it remember?" Sully said, "Well what if he calls my bluff!?" "He won't," Nathan said. Nathan heard Sam again, "Nathan if we don't get that cross I'm as good as dead." Sully said, "Yeah, well if I end up with the highest bid we're all dead." "Just bide me some time!" Nathan begged. Up in the auction room. Sully sighed. The auctioneer announced, "We have ninety-thousand euros. Going once. Going twice…" "Screw it." Sully said under his breath as he held up his bidding number. "There!" said the auctioneer, "We have one hundred thousand euros in the room." Rafe glared furiously in Sully's direction and he held up his bidding number. "Don't worry," Nathan said in the electrical room, "You'll be out of there in a minute." "I better be," Sully replied. Nathan began frantically looking for something to smash the lock. He rummaged through a drawer. Nothing. "That brings us to one hundred thirty thousand euros," Nathan's earpiece said. Nathan rushed to another drawer and opened it. Again, nothing. "One hundred forty thousand euros." Nathan growled in frustration. "Come on Nathan!" Sam said, "Alright! I'm hurrying!" Nathan shouted. "One hundred seventy thousand," taunted the earpiece. Nathan looked through another box. He pulled out a crowbar. "Yes!" Nathan said. He slammed the crowbar into the lock and began pushing against it with all his might, "One hundred ninety thousand euros," With a crack, the padlock snapped, and Nathan threw open the door. He called in, "Alright boys I'm at the switch. Ready?" Sam replied, "Ready as I'll ever be. Victor?" Having a bit too much fun playing with Rafe, he replied, "Just a sec." Sully held up his number. "The gentleman's bid: two hundred thousand euros." Rafe thrust his number in the air and called, "Five hundred thousand! Let's get this show on the road here." An audible gasp went up through the crowd. The auctioneer, quite surprised herself, said, "Uh…we have a five hundred thousand euro bid. Does the gentleman wish to bid again?" Sully looked like he thought for a moment, and then offered the bid to Rafe. "Had me worried there for a moment Victor," said Rafe, "Thought I might have to kill you." Sully chuckled to himself. He called in to Nathan, "OK. Let's ruin this moron's evening." "Going once…Going twice…" The lights suddenly went out. After a few seconds the auctioneer said, "Ladies and gentlemen please remain calm. The backup power will come on shortly." Four seconds later and the lights came on, but the cross was gone. "It's gone!" shouted a voice. Rafe was shocked. He looked around, then saw Sam disappear behind a staff door. He began tearing off towards Sam, shoving and pushing people out of his way. "Stop him!" shouted Rafe, "Hey stop that guy!" As he ran towards the door a guard stopped him, "Hey!" Rafe screamed, "What are you doing?! You're letting him get away!" The guard lifted a rifle. Rafe stepped back. He glared at the doorway, who had stolen his cross!?"
Jumping down to the garden, Nathan called in, "Sam, tell me you got the cross!" Nathan heard Sam in the earpiece, "I got St. Dismas right here. You want to say hi?" Nathan then heard Sully, "Yeah we really kicked the hornet's nest down here. Ballroom's locked down and security's scrambling." Nathan asked, "Hey Sully where's out getaway?" Sully replied, "I got the car right out front. Just follow the spotlights." Nathan began going on the rooftops. It would be the easiest way to get to the parking lot. He was on the complete other end of the estate. He jumped onto a roof, and suddenly, he saw a man flick on a flashlight. He hid, and the light beam fell right to where he had jumped. As he looked, he suddenly saw several more men with flashlights all searching around his area. He jumped onto a balcony for the main mansion. There was a guard who saw him. Nathan hid and jumped off the balcony, gripping the bottom of it as he hung off the side. The guard walked onto the balcony, and after a few minutes, left. Nathan climbed back onto the balcony. He rushed down a hallway, and then saw a guard blocking his way with a rifle. He walked to another balcony that was close to the ground. He jumped down, and hid inside a patch of tall grass. He saw a guard come armed with a flashlight. The man entered the tall grass, and Nathan pounced, covered his mouth, and punched him out cold. He left the man where he was and continued. He was now behind the mansion. He would have to go right through the mansion to leave. As long as he hung around the edges he'd go unnoticed. He jumped onto a metal grated window, and climbed up into an open one right above it. He entered a large drawing room on the upper level. Nathan breathed deeply and said, "OK…it's fine. No-one got a good look at me…I'm just going to play it cool and stroll right on out of here." He looked and saw the door right to his left. He walked over and opened it. Suddenly, he saw somebody was right in his way. "You're not supposed to be back here," it was Nadine. Nathan panicked inside. Why was she here!? "Well…neither are you." Nathan said, "But I'll tell you what, I won't tell anybody if you don't." Nadine put her hand against the door jam, blocking Nathan's way. Nathan tried to leave, but Nadine looked him in the eye and said, "You have something I want…and you're going to give it to me." Nathan looked at her, and after a second said, "Uh, I'm flattered, but I'm already uh…spoken for." He held up his wedding ring with a wry smile on his face. "Now if you'll excuse me…" Nadine grabbed Nathan's wrist, twisted it violently, and landed a brutal uppercut to Nathan's chin. As Nathan crashed to the ground, all thoughts he had of women being weaker than men flew out the window. As Nadine shut the door she said, "I'm not in the mood for games." Nathan grunted as he struggled to his feet. "Give me the crucifix!" Nadine demanded. Nathan shook his head, "Lady," he said, "you're lucky I'm a gentleman cause if I weren't, I would-" Nadine kicked Nathan in the chest with all the power of a bodybuilder, sending Nathan reeling into the wall. "You'd what?" Nadine asked. Nathan groaned and said, "Alright…just remember, I don't want to do this." Putting her fists up to her face Nadine sneered and said, "Let's see what you got." Nathan put his hands up to his fist, and the two began squaring each other up. Nathan already knew she was a worthy opponent, but he wasn't sure he wanted to hit a woman…that was just against the rules... "Come on Nathan Drake!" Nadine taunted. Nathan chuckled and said, "Well I see my reputation precedes me." Nadine approached and before Nathan could attack, she kicked him in the jawbone. Nathan reeled, and was given no time to recover before Nadine smashed her elbow into his cheek. Nathan grunted and said, "Hey…that's not nice." Nathan flung a punch at Nadine, but she dodged, and grabbed Nathan's arm, trying to lock him into a defenseless position. Nathan broke her grip, jabbing her in the gut with his elbow. Nadine recovered, "Nice try," she said. Nathan chuckled, "I gave you that one," he said, "Freebie." Nadine lunged, twisted Nathan around, and kicked Nathan in the back. "I gave you that one!" Nadine said. With his face to the wall, Nathan tried to get up, but before he could Nadine shoved his neck to the wall, and pinned his arms to his back. "Now hand me the artifact!" Nathan thought for a moment. He didn't even have it. "Hey look," Nathan said, "I have this nice astrolabe at home. I'm willing to give it to you at a fair price." Nadine huffed and said, "I'm really losing my patience!" she slammed Nathan against the wall, then threw him into a table behind her, Nathan smashing it to pieces as he crashed into it. Struggling up Nathan said, "Alright…I'm still a little jet-lagged. How about we just call it even?" Nadine attacked with savage ferocity, punching and kicking so fast Nathan couldn't keep up. He was knocked over again by a punch to the gut. "Are you going to give it up," Nadine said, "Or are you going to keep being a smart-aleck?" Nathan shrugged and said, "Well you know, being a smart-aleck has gotten me this far in life…Why quit now?" Nadine pushed him into the wall again, right next to the window. "Wait! Wait!" Nathan said half-strangled. "It's in my back pocket." Nadine took the bait, and reached for Nathan's back pocket. Nathan head-butted her and said, "Be more careful in the future," Nathan said, "Don't believe everything you hear." Nadine yelled and grabbed Nathan's arm. Twisting it, Nathan heard his shoulder bones crack under the pressure, and then Nadine threw him out of the window. He landed on his back after falling nearly fifteen feet. He groaned and moved his shoulder. No bones broken. Grunting, he got up, and heard Sully in his earpiece, "Alright I'm in the car! Where in God's name are you guys!?" Nathan said in a hoarse voice, "I just met your friend Nadine Ross. She's lovely." Sully sounded nervous, "Yeah? Well it's total chaos out here. Everybody's freaking out. I don't want to rush you but hurry up!" "Nathan where are you?" it was Sam. "Good question," Nathan said, "You?" Sam replied, "I'm next to the ballroom. Good news is I have a gun. See you soon." Nathan knew he'd have to get back up on the roofs of the buildings. He climbed up the mansion balcony and made his way to one of the roofs. There were now dozens of guards with flashlights illuminating the entire area like monster's eyes. One false step and he could get shot to bits. He saw a flashlight beam come his direction. He ducked behind the balcony railing, and the beam passed. He hoped Nadine wouldn't come looking for him. While he was a pretty good street fighter, Nadine was straight up military quality, and he wasn't quite on her level…yet. He got up, and suddenly a flashlight beamed right on him. "Hey!" shouted a guard, who immediately started shooting. Nathan ducked behind the balcony when he heard Sam. Sam yelled, "Nathan! What are you doing!?" Sam shot at the thugs. He was also on the rooftops. "Nathan!" he shouted, "Catch!" "Wait what?" Nathan asked. Suddenly he saw a pistol flying right towards him, "Oh crap…" he said before he snatched the gun. "I got it!" he yelled. Nathan finished off the last of the goons and Sam yelled over, "Nice shootin' Tex! Hey can you make your way to the car!?" "Yeah I think so," Nathan called back, "You hurry up, I'll meet you there!" "OK," Sam replied before making his way to Sully in the car. Nathan jumped from the rooftop to another balcony, heading to the ballroom level. He heard another man, "Hey!" the man shouted, before unleashing a hail of bullets from his AK. Nathan waited till he stopped before putting a bullet in the goon's shoulder. He ran over to the window for the main ballroom. He heard shooting from the inside. Quickly, he burst through the window in a flurry of shattered glass, and did a somersault into the room. "Nathan!" shouted someone in the room. It was Sam. Nathan felt a bullet whiz past his head. "Hey, how you doing?!" Nathan shouted. More bullets. Nathan flipped one of the heavier tables over and hid behind it. Sam, hiding behind a large marble pillar said, "Hey, I think I'm done with this auction, huh?" Nathan saw a guard come up behind him. Nathan clubbed him with the butt of his gun and took him down. "Oh yeah," Nathan replied, "Me too!" Nathan saw a guard shooting in Sam's direction. He shot him in the arm and took him down. As the guard shot the pillar, bits and pieces of marble flew into Nathan's eyes and ears like stinging bees. Suddenly, the guards were gone. Nathan tried to contact Sully, "Sully," Nathan said, "What's it look like out there?" He heard Sully reply, "Not good. Change of plan. Too many people are trying to leave, the driveway's all jammed up." Nathan growled. "What's our backup?" Sam asked. Sully replied, "There's that fountain right here in the parking lot. I'll meet you there." "Got it," Nathan said, "Let's go." Nathan began running across the room when suddenly he was accosted by bullets. He ducked, Sam right behind him. He rolled behind a table. He could hear the bullets slam into the floor right in front of him. Ducking, he stuck his head out and shot the guard, bringing him down. He rushed over to the guard and grabbed his weapon, a crowd control shotgun. He was now in the middle of the room, making steady progress towards the end of the room. He flipped another oak table over. There was a guard right in front of the doorway that was shooting at the table in front of Nathan. Suddenly Nathan heard a high pitched beeping. The guard had thrown a grenade! Nathan leapt into the air and the grenade exploded. In a cloud of smoke Nathan was blown to the ground by the shockwave. After recovering, he saw Sam make a dash for the door. Nathan followed, bullets biting at their heels. There were three other guards chasing them. Nathan turned the corner at the door and as soon as the guard came out, he punched one out cold, and the others he was able to hide from. Nathan called in, "Sully! We're running out of time here!" "Hold on kid!" Sully said, "Nearly there!" They ran down the steps. The parking lot was right in front of them, but there were several guards with weapons standing in the lot holding flashlights. Nathan was able to take one of them down. Suddenly he saw a large whit car smash through the metal gates leading out of the estate. "Someone call for a limo?" It was Sully. Nathan and Sam made a break for the car. They flung themselves into the backseat, bullets piercing the back windshield. "Go! Go! Go!" shouted Nathan. "Hang on!" Sully replied. Burning rubber, Sully screeched out of the estate, the guards only stopped shooting when they were out of range.
Sitting at a table in a high rise hotel room far from Rossi Estate, Nathan, Sam and Sully all looked at the item that had caused all the trouble. It was the second St. Dismas crucifix. Sam set down his glass of white wine, and taking up a hammer to break the top off, Sam looked at Nathan and shrugged, before taking the top off of the crucifix. Sam looked inside the crucifix and suddenly his smile faded. "Oh no…" he said. "What?" Nathan asked. "It's empty." Sam replied. Nathan was shocked, "What!?" Sam, smiling took a small piece of parchment out of the crucifix. "Oh you're such a jerk!" Nathan said. "He's your brother…" Sully replied. The parchment inside the cross was small, but it was sealed by a small red wax seal, with Henry Avery's skull and crossbones insignia. The skull was side-viewed, with a bandanna around it, and a large hoop earring. Below that were the crossbones. "Skull and crossbones," said Sully, "Very good sign." He unfolded the note. The entire note was almost entirely taken up by two crossed cutlasses in the center, with a skull below that. The corners and bottom of the note were all elaborately decorated, and looping around the swords were these words, "Today you will join me in paradise." In-between each word banner were the dates 1659, and 1699. Looking at the paper, Sam looked at Nathan and said, "Today you will join me in paradise. That's what Jesus said to the Penitent Thief on the cross but…What about these numbers here, what do you make of this?" He pointed to the numbers. "Could be a code," said Sully, "Or a phone number." Nathan chuckled, "Come on," he said, "They're dates! Look. There's 1659," Sam nodded, "Oh…That's the year Avery was born." Nathan pointe to the other date, "1699." Sully said, "Let me guess, the year he died." Sam nodded, "By most accounts yeah but…We have date of birth date of death and paradise which means…We're looking for Avery's grave." "At St. Dismas' cathedral," Nathan finished. Nathan got up to grab his notebook, which had a small map of the cathedral and the surrounding property. "Wait a second," said Sully, "Hasn't Rafe been scouring that site for ages already?" "Yeah," Nathan replied laying his notebook on the table, "The cathedrals," he pointed to the map. "See these symbols?" Nathan asked "Yeah," Sam replied. Nathan looked at Sam and Sully and said, "These are found on old Scottish gravestones. Right? Now," he laid the map of St. Dismas' Cathedral down on the table, "the layout for this place is really unusual. Here's the cathedral, but the graveyard is way over here, on the other end of the property." Sam chuckled, "Rafe has been focusing on the wrong area." "Exactly!" Nate replied. Sam slumped back in his chair then looking at Nathan and Sully said, "Guys, we're going to Scotland!" Sully said, "Wait, wait, hold on. You do realize that Rafe won't be happy you guys are there. He might not know you're coming now, but if you're caught…" Nathan replied, "Ah, we'll deal with that when we get there." Sully shook his head and said, "That psycho would like nothing better than for you to show up. Plus he's got Nadine and her private army to back him up!" "Yeah," said Nathan, "But he doesn't have this!" he held up the map and looking Sully in the eye said, "The biggest pirate treasure of all time is within our grasp!" Sully didn't smile, he just looked at Nathan, then, lighting a cigar he said, "I thought this was about saving Sam?" Nathan replied, "It is! But come on it's both right? We need the treasure so we can save Sam!" Sully sighed, and leaning forward he said, "How is Elena cool with all this?" Nathan sighed, and threw his hand up. "Oh come on kid," Sully said. Nathan said in a low voice, "Look it's not that simple Sully…" Sully looked at Nathan and said, "With all you been through together?" Nathan shook his head and said, "She wouldn't understand this." Nathan rolled up the map of St. Dismas' cathedral and Sully jabbed his cigar in the air, "You are not giving her enough credit!" Sully said. Nathan replied, "I can't take that chance!" A few seconds passed, then Sam spoke, "Nathan he's right. Look, Rafe is involved now and things have changed." Nathan got out his cell phone. "I can take this on my own from now," Sam said. Nathan looked at Sam and said, "Great. Well, thank you for your input, both of you. Excuse me, I have to call my wife." Nathan left the room, but Sam knew he wasn't about to take his advice. "Hey," Nathan said on his phone as he went off to the hotel room's balcony, "Hey it's me, how are you doing?" The balcony door closed. Sully and Sam were both left in the room. Sighing, Sully poured some rum into his cup on the table. Sam did the same. Looking at Sully taking a thought filled drag on his cigar Sam chuckled and said, "What's on your mind dear?" Sully sighed and said, "Look I um…I know it couldn't've been easy, all those years away. And I'm sorry for what happened to you...But it's not his fault." Sam shook his head, "I never said that it was," Sam replied. "Took him a long time to get out of this game," Sully said. Sam sighed, "He's meant for this life." Sully huffed, "You really believe that?" he asked between a puff. Sam looked at Sully and said, "Why are you here Victor?" Sully replied, "Because somebody's got to keep an eye out for him." Another pause. The door for the balcony opened as Nathan finished up his conversation, "No, I'll just see you in a few weeks," Nathan said, "Yeah…I will. OK. I love you too, bye." He hung up and sat back down. Sully took one more drag off of his cigar and looked at Nathan, waiting for an excuse. "I just told her the job is going to take a bit longer than expected…which is the truth!" Nathan said. Sam didn't make eye contact with Nathan. Sully still had a hesitant face on. "So come on," Nathan said, "What do you say? Sam could still use our help." Sully looked into the wall, huffed, and poured some more rum into his cup. "It's a lot to take in kid." Sully replied, "Where do I even start? You've been out of the game a long time. And maybe I need to remind you of the kind of people we'll be crossing here." Nathan sighed, "Sully I know the risks," he said, "But come on, it's a surefire plan!" Sully scoffed, "Yeah…If there's one thing I've learned in all these years, there's no such thing as a surefire plan." Nathan looked Sully in the eye, "I don't really have an option here," he said, "you know that. Yeah maybe you're right, I've been out of the game…But I need back in. So can I count on you? One last time?" "Well," he said, "I do hear the weather is particularly fine in Scotland this time of year." With that, Nathan, Sam, and Sully all wordlessly, but happily raised their glasses in a toast, before drinking it down.
Looking at the map, Nathan sighed, "Well," he said, the air turning his breath to vapor. They had arrived in Scotland, and the air wasn't quite as fine as Sully had predicted. It was quite cold, and while it was mild September weather back in the States, here it was chilled, there was even some snow that had fallen during the night. The area around St. Dismas' cathedral was rocky and mountainous, with cliffs and crags all over the place. The grass was tall and brown, with towering pine trees pointing to the sky like green arrows. The ocean was right next to them, far below. A massive three hundred foot cliff separated them from the ocean below. "Rafe's really going all in isn't he?" asked Sam looking at the distance. Rafe was now actually blowing up St. Dismas' cathedral itself! "How'd he get the permission to do that?" Sam asked. Nathan shrugged, "He's rich," he said, "and besides, it's technically his property now…Anyway, they're all concentrated around the cathedral now so that's good. I still have no idea why Rafe hasn't even bothered to check at the cemetery yet. Guy's a bigger idiot than I ever gave him credit for…Well, we're going to have that graveyard all to ourselves." Nathan pulled out his binoculars and took a good long look. There was dust that had been blown up from the dynamite explosions, as well as large chunks of rock. Nathan shook his head. Rafe was decimating historical landmark simply because he hadn't done his research well enough. Nathan pulled out his walkie-talkie, "Sully," he said. "Yeah?" Sully replied. Nathan pulled his coat up against a gust of wind, "We're good to go here," Nathan said. Sully replied, "OK kid. Happy hunting." Sully was inside a bush plane that could float on top of the water with two pontoons under each wing. "Last chance to come with," Nathan said. Sully replied, "Yeah well…Unless you can find me an escalator I think I'll pass." Nathan chuckled, "Alright," he said, "We'll see you in a few." He waved from atop the cliff, and he heard Sully reply, "Hey Nate just uh…Just…Just bring me back something shiny will ya?" "That's the plan." Nathan replied. Before setting off, Sam clapped his hands together, rubbed them, and said, "OK, let's pay our respects to Captain Avery."