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Nate helped Elena over to the jeep and opened the door for her. “You want me back here with you or up front? Road’s gonna be pretty rough” he said.
Elena rolled her eyes. It was always a little funny how much of a worrywart he could be. Pulls death-defying stunts for fun and seeks out danger like he’d die without it, but the second someone he cares about is involved? Nate becomes an absolute mother hen.
“I’m fine, Nate” she replied. “Go sit up front with Sully so I can stretch out and take a nap”. She could always use him as a pillow, of course, but at some point during the drive he would inevitably start bouncing his leg or mumbling to himself while sketching something in his journal before remembering he was supposed to be sitting still. It was normally pretty cute, like a hyperactive puppy doing its best to follow commands but still kind of hopping in place, but she really was tired, and Sully could keep Nate from worrying too much.
Nate studied her face “if you’re sure…” he said while handing her a blanket.
“Yes, I’m sure. Go. Go annoy Sully for a change” she smirked.
Nate held his hands up “alright, alright, fine. Don’t come crawling to me when you get bored back there” he said as he double checked that she had everything she needed for the drive.
Elena chuckled “you’d be the one getting bored. I plan to be much too asleep for that”.
Nate stepped back, hand on the door, “fair point. You have everything right? Water? Pain meds? I bet Tenzin could give you some…”
“NATE” Elena interrupted, “you’re literally just in the front seat”
“you could always throw somethin’ at him” Sully said, getting into the driver’s seat.
“Hey! Good idea Sully! If I need anything I’ll throw a shoe at you” Elena grinned.
Nate gave Sully an offended scoff as he got into the passenger seat and closed the door “whose side are you on, anyway?”
Sully started the engine, “whatever side gets us on the road quicker”
Nate twisted around, saying to Elena “can you believe this guy?” only to find her already asleep. “Huh… well, I guess she was right about sleeping the whole way” Nate said as he turned back around.
“good for her” Sully replied, glancing in the mirror, “probably sleep through the worst of the terrain this way”
Nate watched the village disappear in the side mirror, then watched the clouds for a while. It felt like the world should look different. All the devastation they’d caused in Shambala, in the village… hell, even the civil war in Nepal. It seemed wrong somehow that the world around them was so peaceful after everything.
“what’s got you so quiet?” Sully asked, side-eyeing Nate. The kid had looked lost in thought for a while now, and with Nate that was rarely a good thing. Nate startled a bit, then sighed, “nothing, just… just thinking”.
Sully let it be. You could never really push an issue with Nate, it always made him close off and hide behind sarcasm and jokes. Even after all these years, Sully sometimes had to approach him like you would a stray dog – make sure they know you’re there, then wait and see if they’ll come to you.
“So where are you gonna head after we drop Elena off?” he asked. So sue him, he’s never been great at waiting.
“I dunno” Nate replied, “probably stick around and help her settle back in for a bit”
“and then?” Sully pushed
“I don’t know Sully” Nate said tersely. Yeah… he was definitely annoyed now, “I’ll figure it out. Something’ll turn up”
“Sure, kid but…” Sully sighed, deciding to switch gears. Metaphorically, not on the car. Well, actually… he looked at the speedometer, yeah the car too. He sped up a bit now they were starting to get to actual roads. Anyway, Nate wasn’t making this easy so it was time to shoot straight. “I talked with Chloe before we left” he said. Which is… not quite the straight shot he meant it to be, but oh well.
Nate looked confused by the non sequitur, “uh yeah, I know. You’re a dirty old man Sullivan, no need to remind me, I don’t wanna hear about…”
Damn wise-ass kid. “She said she’s worried about you” he interrupted whatever joke Nate had been about to make.
Aha! Now that finally got past the kid’s veritable fortress of sarcasm and wise-assery. Although, maybe it wasn’t the best place to start because now Nate just looked confused. “Why would Chloe be worried about me?” he asked, with genuine confusion. It was always easy to tell the difference between real and fake confusion, the kid was not a great actor – there’s the confused face he makes when Sully asks him who drank the last beer, and the confused face he makes when he’s looking between his surroundings and a map after insisting he knows the way. This one was definitely the latter.
“She seemed to think some of your death-defying stunts were more reckless than they needed to be” Sully explained, hoping the kid would get the underlying message.
“well that’s a matter of opinion. I don’t even know which stunt she’s even talking about” Nate said, making air quotes with his fingers as he said ‘stunt’.
“Kid, that’s not…” Sully sighs. He hates these kinds of conversations. He doesn’t like talking about their goddamn feelings in the first place, and with Nate it’s like pulling teeth.
“Look, Nate…” Sully starts over “she’s just worried that... hell I’M worried that after everything with Flynn and the village, you might not be doing so hot. And before you interrupt” sure enough Nate closed his mouth from where he’d opened it to speak “I know. I know that you’re not the one that got blown up. But Elena’s gonna be just fine, and don’t think I missed the part where you got shot and left for dead in the middle of the goddamn tundra”
Nate looked back out the window. Hard to tell whether he was thinking about what Sully said, or just sulking.
Well, in for a penny… Sully continued “I know you’re tough, kid, no one’s questioning that. But this was a hell of a hit and I don’t want you to keep pushing it down and taking jobs until one day you decide to jump off a cliff rather than climb up it”
Nate huffed but stayed quiet. He wasn’t protesting. Why wasn’t he protesting?
“Just uhh… just so we’re clear…” Sully watched Nate out of the corner of his eye “is that… is that a possibility?”
Nate looked a little lost “I don’t… I don’t know, Sully. Would it be such a bad thing? I’m the reason Lazarevic even showed up in Nepal. Har... Flynn wouldn’t’ve figured it out if I hadn’t found the map for him”
Sully interrupted “Nate it’s not…” but Nate kept going as if he hadn’t heard anything.
“Then when the train… I should’ve cut my losses then. But no, of course Nathan Drake just had to survive, so he could lead them right to Tenzin’s village and get Shaeffer and a bunch of other people killed. And those…” Sully flicked him on the forehead. “Ow! What was that for?” Nate said, rubbing his head.
“That was so you’d shut up and stop spiraling and listen to me” Sully raised an eyebrow at Nate, who crossed his arms and sunk a little deeper into the seat.
“First off, even if Flynn couldn’t figure it out, that psychopath would’ve just hired someone else. He woulda got there eventually. And didn’t Elena say that city had been on the brink of a civil war for a while? So even if Lazarevic never showed up, there probably would’ve been a war anyway. So that one’s not on you either.”
“yeah, but…” Nate interrupted
“Second thing” Sully kept going, not giving Nate the chance to argue, “you didn’t BRING those guys to the village. Hell, you didn’t even bring yourself there. Way Elena tells it, they brought you there knowing full well that you were racing Lazarevic to Shahmbala and they trusted you to stop him. You ever stop and think why that dainty little village had so many guns?”
Nate looked startled. “Well no, it… I bet they just…” he trailed off, looking contemplative. Ah, maybe he wasn’t quite as bad off as Sully had feared. Probably it was all just too fresh and he’d avoided thinking about it. Well, Sully wasn’t about to let the kid self-destruct.
After giving the kid a minute to think about it, Sully answered his own question “they knew that someone would come looking for that treasure someday. Hell, they knew the danger they were in before you did. You just happened to show up in time to help.”
Nate sighed, “yeah, maybe…”
Sully left him to his thoughts. Let him stew on it here, where Sully could keep an eye on him. He knew Nate would be fine, he hadn’t been lying when he said he was tough, but Sully had been looking out for the kid for years and like hell he’s gonna stop now.
After a few minutes of just driving, each lost in their own thoughts, Nate spoke up.
“Everything I touch turns to shit, Sully”
Nate was staring at some of the drawings in his notebook. Sully took a moment to gather his thoughts. Words weren’t his thing, but he had to get this right.
“Yeah, looks that way doesn’t it” he said. Nate looked over at him, like he couldn’t decide whether he was offended or not.
“Kid, you’ve got all the luck of a homeless gambling addict. Yeah, shit seems to follow you” Nate crossed his arms and looked out the window, but Sully kept going “but just because you’re in a situation doesn’t make it your fault. Things turn to shit a lot in this business, Nate, you know that. In fact, shit hits the fan whether you’re there or not. Only difference is, if you’re there you try to make it right”
Nate didn’t reply, but he did look a bit less tense. He wasn’t quite his usual carefree self, but he’d uncrossed his arms and unclenched his jaw so that was something. There was one last thing to say though, and it needed to be before Elena woke up and Nate started pretending everything was just dandy. Hopefully they could do this the easy way and not have to sit in a car pissed at each other.
“Whaddya say we head back to my place for a bit after all this? Take a bit of a breather, do some smaller jobs…”
Nate huffed “Sully you don’t have to do that. Honestly I’m fine, I’ll figure it out”
“I know I don’t have to” Sully replied, “think of it as you putting my mind at ease. I’m not about to tell you you can’t do jobs or anything like that just… for my own sake, let me keep an eye out for you for a bit”
“Alright alright fine, you nosey old man, but you don’t get to complain when I drink your beer” Nate snickered.
“Hah!” he said to Nate, “that’s if you can find it. I’ve thought of several new hiding spots since you were last over”
“oh, it is ON” Nate said with a grin that reached his eyes, finally relaxing and looking a bit more like himself.
‘That’s more like it’ Sully thought to himself. The kid deserved to be happy. He and Elena both did. Hell, they’d saved the goddamn world. AGAIN. And neither one of them expected anything in return. They both had hearts of gold and zero goddamn self-preservation instincts, so yeah. Sully will keep an eye on them, and those two lovebirds will live long and happy lives if Victor Goddamn Sullivan has to fight God to make it happen.