I hope you enjoyed reading the last chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. Who Benjamin Edwards is, why Nate was so afraid of him, and the identity of the man Nate attacked, will all be revealed in time. Now, whether or not that scene will end up taking place near the end of this story, or be a set up for a sequel, who knows? I'm not even sure yet. Let's just see how this story goes.

Two years prior.

The sea air.

Nate loved running, and he had run along this beach almost every morning for years, but had never asked himself what it was that kept him running here, and not anywhere else. So as he ran, he thought about what made him come back each morning. The truth was, it was the sea air. Hell, the whole environment. He continued to think about it as he increased his pace, about how the sand felt beneath his feet, how the sun felt on his skin, the sound of the ocean waves, and just how much he loved having the gorgeous scenery around him as he ran. It was like something off of a postcard. He looked around at everything as he passed it by at a quick speed. Who wouldn't take this over some suburb any day? Nate smiled as he noticed several young women eyeing him as he ran past.

"Still got it," he thought happily. The fact that he was shirtless probably helped, but Nate liked to say it was just a natural charm he exuded. Whatever it was, Nate didn't really care. He knew it didn't matter. There was someone much better waiting for him at home. As if to remind him, the sunlight glinted off of the silver band on his left ring finger. So he just kept running, and kept enjoying his sand, his scenery, and his sea air.

A short time later, Nate stopped where he had left his backpack, and as he bent over to catch his breath, he looked at the sports watch on his wrist. He smiled when he realized he had finished his run slightly faster than last week.

"Not bad," he thought as he pulled his shirt on and took a drink from the water bottle in his bag. "Not bad at all." Then he picked up his bag and walked away.

Meanwhile, Elena sat on a barstool, her tiny frame resting sleepily on the granite kitchen counter, smiling as the smell of the coffee pot reached her nose. She sat up as the pot dinged to alert her that it was done, wearily shuffled across the white tile kitchen floor, and poured herself a mug. She reached up into the cupboard, and pulled her favorite creamer off of the top shelf. She had to stand on her tiptoes just to get it.

"I swear Nate puts it up here on purpose," she thought.

After she fixed her coffee, she went and sat down on the living room couch. She loved mornings like this. It was beautiful outside, the sun lit the inside of the house perfectly, and everything was quiet. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and listened to the distant sound of the ocean, to the wind chimes on the porch, and the seagulls off in the distance. She savored these mornings, enjoying the peaceful stillness, because she knew it wouldn't last. She looked at the end table next to the couch, and smiled warmly at the pictures adorning it. The first was one of her and Nate, from the first time they dated. They had gone on a trip together to Egypt. The photo had been taken during their cruise down the Nile. She had wanted to go on the nicest cruise ship, where they could've had a beautiful cabin with a private terrace to gaze out at the river. But Nate booked their trip on a restored 19th century wooden sailboat, or as Nate called it, a dahabeah. Despite her frustration with him, Nate remained ecstatic and defensive about his choice. He said it would be a much more authentic experience, get them closer to the local culture and history.

"Hard to believe that was twelve years ago," she thought.

The next photo was of the two of them on their honeymoon, sitting on a beach in Ko Phi Phi, Thailand. Elena remembered the little bungalow they stayed in, how romantic it was. Until she figured out that Nate had picked Thailand because of some treasure he thought was hidden there. She unconsciously touched her stomach as she looked at herself in the photo, sitting there in that two piece bathing suit. She was still amazed by how well she had healed from the grenade blast in Tibet.

But the last photo was one of her favorites. It was taken about eight years ago, with her and Nate sitting together at a dinner table with Victor Sullivan, Chloe Frazer, and Charlie Cutter. She remembered the night vividly. It seemed like everyone had an announcement to make during that dinner in London. Sully said that he had bought an antique shop in Miami, and planned to spend the foreseeable future making a legitimate living there. So far, at least to Elena's knowledge, he had stuck to that idea. It wasn't much later in the night that Chloe and Cutter announced they were dating. As much as it surprised Elena at the time, the idea of Chloe going steady with anyone, if someone had said they would still be together years later, she would have called that person crazy.

"Hell," Elena thought, "Chloe probably would've called them crazy too."

But that wasn't her favorite moment that night. She glowed as she remembered the way she felt that night when Nate said that he was retiring from treasure hunting. She had asked him if that was what he really wanted, how she wasn't sure if she wanted him to give up his life as a treasure hunter for her.

"Elena," he said, smiling that smile she loved, "I took me too long to realize, but being with you is more important than any of that. I would give my life for you." Then, with a cocky smile, he added, "So I think, by comparison, giving up my life's work should be fairly easy." The two embraced in the warmest hug either of them had ever had, and as Elena savored the moment, Drake whispered in her ear, "I'm just sorry it took me this long to figure it out."

And Nate had kept to his promise. In the eight years since that night, he never ran off on another adventure, or taken any other forms of dangerous or criminal employment. Shortly after that night, they bought a house in Miami near the beach. Elena told him they could get a bigger house, but Nate refused to get a house that he wasn't able to pay half the cost of. He didn't care how well Elena had invested her cut of the gold from El Dorado compared to his frivolous spending. But, because of their opposing financial habits, they agreed that Elena would handle their budget.

There were points in their relationship where Elena got the feeling that he missed his old life, if only slightly. There was no doubt he still loved to travel, and he still had a great love of history. But he never seemed unhappy, he made no attempts to go back to his old life, and after recent events, any signs of him missing his old job were gone.

Elena's reminiscing was cut short as she heard footsteps outside. She sat down her coffee mug, and made her way to the front door, the sunny areas on the hardwood floor warm against her bare feet. Picking up a one of his books off the floor as she went, she stepped into the entryway just as the door opened and Nate walked through in a navy blue shirt and khaki shorts. He smiled broadly when he saw her, that big, goofy smile of his, and she smiled back at him.

"Good morning Mrs. Drake," Nate said, stepping towards Elena, his grin turning sly as he noticed she was wearing nothing but one of his shirts, which hung half way down her thigh. Elena felt herself blush as she saw Nate's eyes adore her bare legs, and wander upward with a mischievious look to where they disappeared beneath his shirt.

"Good morning Mr. Drake," she replied with a chuckle. "I hate to disappoint you, but I am wearing something under this shirt."

"Damn," Nate said with a smile. He moved in for a hug, but Elena backed up. After seeing the sad expression on Nate's face, she said, "Maybe after you shower, you're a sweaty mess."

Nate nodded in understanding, "You know, you should come with me more often, I'd love the company."

"Are you trying to tell me something?" she asked in a playfully indignant tone.

"Whoa, whoa, no," Nate replied, raising his hands in the air like he was surrendering. "I'm not falling for that. Don't go twisting my words like that."

"You know," Elena replied, "Most guys would instantly rush to reassure their love that she was just as beautiful as ever,' as lovely as they day they met', all that stuff."

Nate chuckled lightly, taking Elena's hands in his. "You are," Nate paused, looking for the right words, "The most beautiful woman I've ever known. I know you've been feeling self-conscious about your appearance recently, and I understand why, but you look amazing," Nate smiled as he looked into her eyes, and kissed her.

"Thank you," Elena replied quietly as their lips separated. Nate began to head for the bathroom, and Elena smiled coyly before speaking again, "Besides," she paused, and Nate turned back, looking at her expectantly, "I seem to recall you being jealous of how many guys were staring at me on that beach."

Nate chuckled as he walked into the bathroom. "Me, jealous? Nahh! How could a guy like me be jealous of anything out there? I thought that you were the jealous one!"

The only reply he received was a laugh from the other room.

"What?" Nate asked, feigning hurt feelings, "You don't think I can get lingering eyes too?"

Elena suppressed a laugh before she responded, "No, I just find it funny that you think I'm jealous. After all, you're the one who came crawling back to me! Twice!"

"Ouch," Nate thought to himself, "She has a point." Of course, he'd never admit that, so he came up with the one reply he could.

"I can't heeeaarrr you!" he childishly replied, "The shower's too loud!"

Elena couldn't help but laugh at how goofy Nate could be. Sometimes she loved that about him, sometimes it drove her crazy.

"Hey!" Nate playfully shouted over the water, "Why don't you come join me in here?"

Elena actually considered it for a moment, a playful grin dancing across her face. But before she could respond, the peace and stillness she enjoyed was interrupted by crying from the other room.

"Damn it," she mumbled, the shouted to Nate, "The baby's up!"

I knew I wanted Nate and Elena to have a kid, but it took me forever to decide how to reveal it. After I decided it would be the end point of the chapter, I had the difficulty of avoiding the subject the rest of the time, leaving clues and hinting at it, but waiting until the end to actually reveal it.

The next chapter or so will probably be a similar pace to this, to set up the characters and the story. But the pace will pick up, I just don't want to rush it. That's the main reason I opened the story the way I did. And please, please, please review. This is my first serious attempt to write anything, so I'd love all the constructive criticism I can get.