Title - Written By The Victors
Chapter title - The Rossi Estate
Author - OblivionsGarden
Genre - Romance/Adventure/Friendship/Drama
Disclaimer - I do not own the Uncharted Series in anyway shape or form. I only own the plot points surrounding my oc's, not recognized from the games. For this chapter I own, Robert, Maria, Stanley, Joanne and Penny Kingsley.
Chapter Word Count - 3195 words.

A/n - Please leave a review, I'd greatly appreciate it. Hope you enjoy, xx (:

"You can't just leave the museum, Penelope! We are in the middle of a revamp. Do you even understand what that means?"

Robert Kingsley was close to bending his knife and fork in his tight, white knuckled grip. His wife, Maria was drumming her fingers on the dark wood of the table as they each stared down at the daughter who was doing her best to hide behind her Irish red hair.

"Of course I understand... But everything has just got a little overwhelming recently." Her voice was quiet, almost timid as she stared at her uneaten plate of food. "I've organized all of the documents into piles for each section, ordered from most urgent to least. I've called in Michael from Oxford to fill in for me whilst I'm away. He knows my organisation almost as well as I do, he'll probably get everything done quicker than I could anyway." Trailing off she bit her lip, risking a glance at her fathers furious face. "And if you need me you can always call. I won't be gone too long."

"This is unacceptable." He fumed, sending his cutlery clattering onto his plate. "You have a responsibility here at the museum, not swanning of with old men on holiday."

"Victor isn't just an old man, he's a friend. You know him, Grandfather knows him and trusts him. He's just taking me to see some historical sites that's all. I'll be back before you know it."

"Let the girl have a break, Robbie." At last, Penny's grandfather, Stanley Kingsley, spoke up. "She's been running herself ragged in this place for too long without a break. She needs it and she's deserved it."

Penny breathed a sigh of relief. No matter how angry and irate her father got, her grandfather always had the last word and no one ever questioned it. She smiled a thank you before excusing herself from the table.

Later that evening he slipped into her bedroom, taking a seat at the foot of her bed as he always did when she was a child. He gave her a fond smile when he noticed the battered copy of Treasure Island that she'd had since he first read it to her.

"Where are you really going?" He asked, a mischievous spark in his dark eyes.

"What do you mean, pop?"

"If you think I'm so old I can't see when you're hiding something, you are very sorely mistaken young lady." He chuckled, lifting the old book into his hand and running his finger along the spine. "You know, you are so much like your grandmother it's breathtaking."

"Really?" Penny smiled. Her grandmother Joanne had died before she was old enough to remember her. She'd only ever heard a few stories from her grandfather. "How?"

"Same hair, although she had hers long, not in a bob like you." He gently tugged the end of her hair which sat comfortably around her jaw. "You have the same chocolaty eyes, same freckles on your nose and the same craving for adventure." With a toothy grin he stood from the bed, replacing the book and moving to look out of the window at the night sky. "She would've loved you."

"I think I would've loved her, too." Penny moved to her grandfather's side, leaning into him. "I'm going to find treasure. Real pirate treasure." She felt the rumble of a laugh rise in his chest and for a brief moment she thought he was mocking her.

"Good for you, darling." He held her face between his aged, calloused hands. "You find that treasure and you do something for yourself. Don't let your parents trick you into thinking that this place is your only option. You want for nothing."

"But... That's what mum says." She frowns, recalling all the times her mother had uttered that phrase, excusing her need to ensure her daughter had all the finest things in life. "I thought that was just a rich person thing."

"It can be." Stanley sighed. "She got it from her mother... But Joanne never meant material possessions. Joanne wanted to travel and see the world, go on adventures. Her need to want for nothing was to just live the life she wanted to live. So you go with Sullivan and you find your treasure and you make sure that you want for nothing. For your grandmother. Alright, love?"

"Alright."

Penny wrapped her arms around his middle, taking in his deep scent that was like nothing other than her grandfather. She thought of the grandmother she never knew and promised that she would make herself happy, for her.

She learned that Nathan, or Nate, was the younger of the two. He was married to a woman named Elena and she could tell from the look in his eyes just how much he adored her although she couldn't figure out why he hadn't told his wife about this trip. He was a little dorky occasionally and had a sarcastic, wise-ass sense of humor. She also found out that Nathan Drake was the man from Sully's stories of El Dorado, Shambhala and Iram. She couldn't deny that she was impressed.

Samuel or Sam Drake, was something else entirely. No significant other, no tales of grandeur or lost cities and seemingly nothing from recent years. It hadn't been an easy confession but Sully finally informed her that when they last looked for a Dismas Cross, Sam had ended up incarcerated in Panama for 15 years. Normally a jail bird would've been the last person she'd want to work with, some familial prejudices just run too deep in someones blood, but she knew he hadn't really committed a crime other than trying to locate an artifact.

He was a relaxed individual with a warm smile and kind but mischievous eyes. Like his little brother he was kind of dorky but he had a very flirty nature that caught Penny off guard. She was essentially a shut in what with work and rarely found the time to be out flirting with men so she didn't really know how to react to him. Blushing and allowing her hair to slip from behind her ear and shield her face wasn't really helping the situation at all.

The morning of the Rossi auction was when the new team were headed to the airport. Penny had her iPod safely tucked into her pocket along with a H.G Wells novel in her handheld, undeciding on what she wanted to pass the two-ish hour flight with. She'd already been and bought a dress for the auction. Something simple and easy to move in should their plan go wrong at any point. The boys had got their suits the day before and she only hoped they looked expensive enough to pass at the Rossi Estate.

On the plane she was in the central isle, Sully opposite the walkway to her left. Nate was near the front of the plane on the right and Sam was five seats behind Sully. She had only spoken to the boys briefly that morning, having been awake since five am to double and triple check her luggage before heading off to the airport. At an hour into the flight she was slightly slumped in her seat, head resting back with her eyes closed when one of the flight attendants lightly tapped her shoulder. A glass was placed in front of her with a folded napkin.

"I didn't order a drink." Penny frowned, wondering if it was meant for the business man seated beside her.

"It's from the gentleman in 12b." The attendant explained with a kind smile before wondering off.

Still frowning, she unfolded the napkin finding a small message written onto it.

'For the beauty in 7c, Sam.'

Her neck twinged as she turned to glance at Sam, five rows back, his own drink in hand, raising it slightly at her with a wink and a smirk. She felt the heat rush to her cheeks as she quickly turned back around, shoving the napkin into her pocket and taking a sip from the drink. She could hear Sully's laughter in her ears and in order to ignore both him and the heat in her face she shoved in her earbuds and turned Led Zeppelin as loud as she could without bursting her eardrums.

A few hours before the auction was set to open the doors to it's guests, Penny and the boys were in Sully's hotel room, eating their room service. Penny herself was tucking into a pepperoni pizza.

"Even hotel pizza in Italy is better than restaurant pizza in England." She murmured, barely pausing between bites. "So good."

"You should try a slice in Boston." Sam smirked, watching her as she caught a string of cheese from falling onto her chin.

"I've had New York before. It's nothing compared to this."

Once they'd each finished eating, Penny headed to her own room to change for the event and when ready she returned to Sully's. Penny was the last one to arrive, being the only one with styled hair and some make up.

"You look good, kid."

Sully smiled approvingly as she made her way into the room so they could all go over their plan one last time. Sam scanned her short form with an appreciative smile. Her dress was simple, plain and black, with thin straps around the shoulders, not too low cut and resting just above her knees. Her heels were very low, easy to run in or kick off if she need to. She had done a very simple smokey eye and dark red lip and her hair was in it's natural, gentle waves.

"You look... Uh..." Sam trailed off as he looked her over once more.

"That bad?" Penny ran her hands down the sides of her dress, self consciously. "I just wanted something practical incase it all goes tits up. I'm not usually a dress kinda girl." She mumbled.

"No!" Sam defended. "I was just gonna say you look lovely, doll."

Feeling that familiar heat in her cheeks, Penny turned to Nate and Sully who were looking over blueprints of the estate, not missing the low chuckle sounding from behind her.

Being around Sullivan could make even the most highly strung person feel at ease. Penny was tense when she first entered the estate but she had never been one for large crowds. A simple hand on her elbow, leading her forward, Sully calmed her.

The two of them stuck close to each other, making idle conversation with other guests as they gradually made their way upstairs. They knew how to slip by unnoticed and securing a room wasn't difficult but as soon as the brothers were inside, that's when things would get complicated.

It didn't take long for the decision to turn out the lights and steal the cross in the dark to come about. On the main floor of the auction, Penny was managing to keep her cool until Rafe Adler had to show up and ruin her evening.

"Miss Kingsley." He gave her a shark like grin as he looked between her and her companion. "Didn't know you were into older guys."

"Very amusing." She mono toned, excusing herself to find a drink.

She was on the far side of the room when the auction began, pretending not to notice Sam playing waiter as he made his way toward the stage. As soon as the lights were out and the cross was gone, Sully was pulling her through a door and away from the shouting and sudden gunfire. She glanced over her shoulder continually, worrying about the others.

"I should go back and help whilst you get the car." She made to turn but again Sully caught her arm.

"Not a chance, you don't even have a weapon. Besides, the boys can handle themselves. We'll help more by getting a car."

"Yeah, don't you worry about us, doll." Sam's voice was crisp in her ear, startling her when she almost forgot about her ear piece.

Securing the car required a little bit of sneaking around but nothing major. Penny managed to grab a weapon from a guard she knocked out by the gate and when Sully went crashing through the wall, she used it to cover the boys from the sunroof as they made their way to the vehicle.

"Nice shootin'." Sam called over the noise as he clambered inside the car, slamming the door behind him.

Penny dropped back inside, placing her weapon between her knees as she turned to look at the brothers. Nathan was also staring at Sam with wide eyes and the older male looked between the two with a sly grin.

"Looking for this?" He pulled the cross from his shirt and Penny breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's intact?" She asked and he handed her the article to inspect. "Brilliant." She beamed, letting Nathan take it from her.

She instructed Sully to pull into a nearby gas station where she had earlier parked a rental car which they switched into, ditching the other. They headed back to the hotel, rushing straight to Sully's room where they each sat around the small table. Nate placed the cross at the centre as Sam grabbed everyone a drink from the mini bar.

A small hammer was produced from Nate's bag and Sam pulled the cross towards him. Penny cringed as he raised the hammer.

"What?" He paused, arm in mid air.

"I work in a museum... Breaking an artifact is the exact opposite of what I've been trained to do." She shrugged and they shared a laugh.

"I hope I don't go to hell for this."

He brought the hammer down on the end of the cross, sending splinters of wood to the floor. Penny held her breath as he looked inside, face falling.

"Shit."

"What?"

"It's empty."

Nate was startled as Sam chuckled and began shaking the cross, revealing a rolled up piece of parchment.

"You're such an asshole."

"What a dick." Penny mumbled in time with Nate.

Her eyes followed the scroll as it fell to the tabletop, spotting the wax mark holding it together. Red wax with a sigil in gold.

"That's Avery's insignia..." Sam smiled, voice full of excitement.

As he unrolled the parchment, Penny was leant close to him in order to see and she couldn't help but notice that in the close proximity she could smell his smoke, his alcohol and what she assumed was his cologne. Ignoring it, she turned back to the matter at hand, quashing all other thoughts for the time being.

Once they had figured out that Scotland was their next destination, Nate headed onto the balcony to speak to his wife on the phone whilst Penny excused herself to the bathroom. When she returned, she found a slight tension in the air between Sully and Sam and she found herself at loss for the right words to dispel it. Luckily Nathan returned soon after, confirming that'd he'd be joining them in Scotland.

"Well, I do hear that the weather is particularly fine in Scotland this time of year."

"Which Scotland have you been to?" Penny frowned at Victor. "It's crap weather and it's freezing. You'll be needing gloves." She addressed the last part to the boys as Sam tilted the bottle of liquor at her and she nodded.

For the rest of the evening they all sat around with their drinks, trying to come up with a plan of action and enjoying some idle conversation.

"So, did you always wanna be a curator?" Sam asked as he and Penny slipped comfortably into their own conversation.

"No... I wanted to be a pirate but I get real seasick on big boats." She laughed along with him, looking down at her glass. "Or a singer."

"Oh are you good?"

"No."

Again they shared a laugh and a brief but comfortable silence. They watched each other for a minute, eyes hazy with alcohol.

Sam noticed how the freckles across her nose were also sprinkled across her shoulders. He noticed the small scar on the right side of her jawline and one of the heel of her hand and when she lifted her glass to drink, she had another on her elbow. When he tried and failed not to look at her legs he found another on her left knee. Penny was small, tiny in comparison to his 6'3" frame and yet after seeing her cover him and his brother from the sunroof of the car, he knew that her size meant nothing. She was unassuming but she could hold her own.

Penny wasn't sure where to rest her eyes. For a moment she stared at his hair and wondered how soft it would be to touch. Then her gaze fell to his warm eyes, twinkling with mischief but she found that she couldn't hold his strong stare without heat rushing to her cheeks. His smile was crooked, like his teeth but she found neither fact off putting. She saw his large hands and his long legs and wondered how odd they would look standing right beside one another. Eventually, her eyes landed on his neck, his tattoo to be precise. She never really spoke about it but she adored body art, sporting four tattoos herself. She felt her fingers twitch involuntarily when she thought about tracing the outline of each bird and forced herself to look away.

"So, why are you here?" Sam asked suddenly.

"What do you mean?"

"I get that you like pirates and you want to find the treasure... But for what end? Nate and I have been searching for this since we were kids. What about you?"

"I... Honestly, I just want to do something worth remembering." She sighed, swirling her glass around. "Something other than organize bits of paper in my office... History was written by the victors, Sam." She grinned. "Not by paper pushers."

"Hm." Sam smiled to himself. "History is written by the victors... I like that. Who said it?"

"I did, just now." Penny took a drink as Sam shook his head with a laugh. "But I've no clue. I think it might have been Churchill but I don't think it was ever proven." Penny placed her glass back on the table, standing up and stretching her arms above her head with a yawn. "Gentlemen, goodnight."

"Night, kid."

"Night."

"Goodnight, sweetheart."

Penny stalled at the last word, the alcohol in her system allowing her to turn to speak, face as red as ever.

"I thought it was doll?"

"Thought I'd try something new." He shot her a cocky, crooked grin.

She'd only know him five days, dammit. She would not let herself be sucked in by his words. Penny merely nodded, turning away and hurrying from the room, ignoring the thoughts swarming her mind.