Chapter Text
It was a cool, clear night, the kind of night that made you want to get up and get out and do anything and be anything. The kind of night that makes life really feel worth living, you know?
Or, at least, that's what Sam Drake was thinking to himself as he hopped and bounced spryly from rooftop to rooftop, clambering over ledges and windowsills gracefully and mounting pipes like a monkey. He felt good, he felt GREAT, actually; he'd gotten a great job offer, he was going to see his two baby brothers, and his body felt particularly strong and capable on this starry starry night. For once, it felt like life was really going well. He couldn't wait to share his enthusiasm with Nathan and Sammy. They're gonna be so excited, he thought to himself, feeling a grin spread onto his face and stay there while he jumped. He let out a little "whoop" as he flew, just from the pure excitement that was coursing through his body. Nights like this, moods like this, were better than alcohol or cigarettes or anything else in the world combined. Nights laughing and relaxing and just hanging out with his brothers. And it had been over a week since he'd seen them, too long for any of their liking. But this-this was going to be so great.
He landed at the orphanage rooftop with a smirk, crouching and feeling pretty fucking pleased with himself. 'Just like a real goddamn Spiderman,' he thought, and mentally patted himself on the back. He reached into the backpack he wore and pulled out his camping-style flashlight, aiming it at the orphanage window and flashing it, excitement thrumming through his body. It had really been too long.
The window opened immediately, and he heard himself cry out with joy in a completely intrinsic burst of happiness and glee. His brothers were coming--they were coming--he saw Nathan's form slip out of the window onto the ledge, and saw him reach back in for Sammy--they were gonna be so excited--
He jumped up and over, closer, to get across--but saw that Nathan was already doing it, proud, stepping across the small hop of a gap to Sam's rooftop while carrying Sammy in his own little arms. Sam saw how tightly Nathan was holding his baby brother, how his arms were clutching him carefully but capably, and he felt a tightening in his chest at the sight. The smile still on his face, his voice already reaching that quiet, higher-pitched voice that people usually reserved for dogs (or young, adorable people they really, really liked), he leaned over the ledge to help them up, taking Sammy in his arms first with the happy voice included.
"Heeeeeeeey, there's my baby brothers! Heeeeeeey (Sam had a tendency to greet people with lots of verve and ceremony like this, making them feel like they were the most welcome and important people in his world--which in this case, they WERE), there you are!" he continued as he comfortably eased Sammy into the crook of his right arm and pulled Nathan up in a lift-slash-hug-embrace with his strong left one, wrapping the arm around his little brother's back and lifting tightly. He always felt stronger with his brothers around, partly because their vulnerable little bodies and the height difference was a nice reminder that he was also LITERALLY bigger and stronger. Which made him feel good, in a cool way.
Sammy was already reaching up for him when he had leaned down, cute little arms and happy face outstretched, silent but big happy smile open, and automatically wrapped his arms and body around Sam's neck and chest like a gecko the second that he felt himself being picked up. Sam was laughing at that as he pulled Nathan up, who was also doing the same (but slightly taller and bigger) version of the insanely adorable reach-and-hug with a huge little-kid grin on his face. Sam could feel the same grin on his own.
Both brothers up now, Sam stepped back from the ledge and hugged them both, wrapping one arm around Nathan for a one-armed hug and stretching it into a big, happy, long two-arm hug when it became apparent that Sammy was clinging tightly enough to not need any support. "Sam!" Nathan was saying enthusiastically, staring up at him like manna from heaven, "You're here!!!! Sam's here!!" at the same time as Sammy was hugging him happily with little baby burbles and saying cutely "Sammy! Sammy Sammy Sammy!!" and reaching up to touch his face. Sam laughed, a real happy laugh that always came out around his brothers. It was so, so nice to feel wanted like this. His brothers really did adore him. God, it was great. He sent up something that could only really be described as a prayer to the night sky; he might have left the Catholic orphanage, but he was still grateful, and he felt the gratitude head up and out like a beam of light from inside.
He wrapped them all in one big big hug, feeling like he was in a Disney movie, saying "Heeeeeeeeeeeeey, I'm here, I'm here, the party's all here--" over their cheery and excited little baby-bird voices, smiling and chuckling all the while. "You're back! You're back!" Nathan was exclaiming, hopping up and down and still holding him around the lower waist where he could reach, and Sammy was touching his face and neck all over with his soft pudgy little baby hands, quietly but excitedly singsonging "Sammy Sammy Sammy. Sammy Sammy Sammy Sammy-"
Sam stepped back further on the roof to where they could get to some of the raised air vents and sit down, able to only turn his head back a little to look where he was going due to Sammy's affectionate touches and his own giggles. His brothers made him giddy like this sometimes; if boys his age saw him now--'Well,' he thought, looking down at the swarm of love for him that was literally surrounding his body and the love in his little brothers' eyes, 'they can just be jealous, 'cuz I really don't give a damn'. And he let his happy giggles out with the nonjudgmental crowd, the coolest people he knew. Nate scuttled around to be behind him, and he felt his little brother's hands guiding his waist and his lower back to where he could sit down and lean against one of the vertical air vents that was high enough to just go over his own head. As he walked backwards more, saying "Thanks little brother", he moved Sammy further into his right arm and poked him on the nose with his left pointer finger jokingly. "Hey now, Sammy, I'm not Sammy! YOU'RE Sammy." Sammy shook his head and hugged his face again, eyes closed and smile big in the happiest little face you could ever see, literally hugging his biggest brother's head like it was an entire person. "Sammy Sammy Sammy," he hummed, and Sam laughed again as he felt Nate step away and he could lower himself down. Both boys immediately snuggled into him the second that he was down, much like two excitable puppies, and cuddled. Sam sighed with happiness, and felt his chest move under Sammy and Nathan while he laughed at their pig-pile of a hug.
"How you doing, little brothers? It's good to see you," he said genuinely, his voice getting deeper and more earnest. He ruffled Nathan's hair, who grinned back at him, head on his chest adoringly. It was crazy, he thought, looking down at both happy little awestruck faces, how much they loved him. And his chest swelled to think of how much he loved THEM. Everything else in the world, good, bad, medium, fell away at those feelings.
"What have you been up to?" Nathan asked with a happy chirp. "Where have you been going? What have we missed?" Sam's chest twinged a little at that; his little brother Nathan always said it like that, and he knew that Nathan felt it cut deep into his heart when his brother was out here having what in HIS mind were grand "adventures" without them. Nathan was chomping at the bit to get out, even though he was only ten years old, and Sam sometimes feared that he'd try to sneak out or run away to catch up with him on his own. That fear always went away, though, because he knew that Nate would never, EVER leave Sammy behind. The three of them stuck together, always. Always. It was them against the world, just as it always would and should be.
Even if the world was being particularly good right now. The reminder made Sam remember the other thing that made tonight great, and he bopped Nate on the nose and booped Sammy on the other. "THAT is the big news, little brother," he said, tilting his head back triumphantly and raising his voice up with dynamism and inflections like he did whenever he was about to start telling a story, and his brothers' eyes widened expectantly. He paused for ceremony, then said, hands leaving his brothers for a second in his excitement, "I, Samuel Drake, got a job."
"What?!" Nathan's face lit up even more. "That's GREAT! What're you gonna do?! Where is it?!"
"Sammy Sammy Sammy," Sammy murmured, happily, sitting up a little to applaud clumsily (even if he didn't quite know how to do it, or what was worth the applaud). The sight was so charming that it somehow made tears well up, and Sam breathed tightly to make them go away. Then he thought, 'ah, fuck it', and just let 'em fall.
Nate's eyes were blurry too, probably because he saw his own brother crying--or, as close as Sam usually got aside from really, REALLY crying--, but he knew that it was from joy. And relief, too; Nate knew how stressful and cumbersome it was for Sam to have this weight on him all the time, to worry about supporting himself and his brothers and having a bed to sleep in and good food, or ANY food, in his stomach at night--and how guilty he felt that they weren't both there with him all the time--
He didn't press Sam, just let him cry a little and let the tears fall, and both he and Sammy softly cuddled their big brother and patiently waited. Sam felt his chest heave again, this time now because he could feel how his brothers were waiting, how they were genuinely in no rush to hear him speak, and he could feel that there was absolutely no judgment from them whatsoever. Sam could be the most terrible person in the world, or the weepiest, but his brothers always loved him. They didn't care what he did, not ever, and he could be himself and say and do whatever he felt like and they were always, always okay with it. He was the best thing in their world, and that was...really something. Something big, and tight, and powerful, that made him look up at the moon and send up another prayer of thanks.
Sammy's intense brown eyes and Nathan's contented blue ones were looking up at him, happily and thoughtfully, when he stopped. "You did it, Sam," Nathan finally murmured quietly, smile still on his face and growing bigger again now that his brother had stopped crying. It worried him to see his brother like this, and he knew that it worried Sammy too. Sammy was a perceptive little kid.
"Yeah," Sam coughed out wetly, "I guess I did."
"What's the job like?" he asked, and Sammy looked on inquisitively, understanding the context if not the question.
Sam's smile came back even bigger now, too. "It's archaeology," he said excitedly. "I harassed this professor who works at one of the museums downtown and bothered him until he'd at least listen to me and hear what I had to say, and what I knew about history. Once I got him talking, and got him to pay attention, he decided he liked me and figured I could have some potential. Even set me up to get a real title and everything. Guys, I'm gonna be helping with old artifacts! Treasures, Sammy!" he bounced Sammy a little for a second, and Sammy laughed, while Nathan gasped in awe. "I'm gonna be working with treasure!!"
Nathan gasped again, his smile wide and his eyes big, and Sammy tried (emphasis on tried) to clap again. "That's SO COOL!!"
"Right?! God, Nathan, I'm so excited," it came out as breathy confession. "I mean, it's working in a dusty office with a crotchety old guy, but he's like the BEST in the business and Nathan he knows so so much and he's gonna TEACH me and I'll be working with REAL artifacts"
The night continued on like that, Sam excitedly talking and Sammy listening and Nathan absorbing with his eyes wide, all of their smiles big until their faces ached and there was a shift in the moon that reminded Sam of the time.
"Whoop, looks like we gotta go, little brothers," he said sheepishly, realizing how much he'd talked and hearing the calm, relaxed sleepiness in his own voice. He wasn't even a little surprised to see that Sammy was still awake; Sammy was a notoriously easy baby, and honestly an even easier toddler, and he was also a night owl just like Sam. Nathan, however, was drifting, if the slow blinking was any indication. He'd been keeping it together, so so eager to listen to Sam and to continue reveling in his success, but now that Sam had mentioned go-time it was like his body had immediately gotten the message. He yawned, trying to cover it up, and Sam laughed. "Cooommmeee on," he groaned as he stood up firmly, one brother melting off of him like butter and the other clinging to him like wax. He chuckled and bounced Sammy a little, who was clutching his neck tighter. "Don't worry, baby brother, I'll be back soon!" he said brightly, the other arm automatically going around Nate as they walked. They were a tactile family, always had been, even when their parents had still been around or alive, and warm, affectionate physical contact between his brothers was literally like a battery recharge for each one of them. Just a touch on the neck or a bump on the shoulder could boost their moods; they were each other's home base, and all that each other needed, and it was good.
"So how's everything going, anyway?" Sam asked as they moved to the roof's edge, slowing down and taking languid, ponderous steps so he could hear Nate's answer. He felt a little bad for talking about himself all night--but then again, his brothers made him feel like a rock star, and like everything that he said was the most important thing in the world and absolutely crucial to all things. Nate knew his brother well enough to know that he was feeling a little guilty--as Sam was wont to do, when it came to his little brothers, reveling in things and then promptly switching to needless regret--and brightened again, shrugging quickly to make it clear that there was nothing important he'd missed, keeping his voice very light.
"Fine, nothing different! Sammy's doing really well, though," Nate said suddenly, abruptly remembering that little tidbit of news. "Sister Catherine says he's gonna go far."
Sam beamed, and looked down at his little brother he was still holding in his arms, who had been nuzzling into his neck but now was forcibly sat up as Sam leaned him out to look at his face. He sucked his thumb bashfully and adorably at the attention, looking back and forth between his brothers like he didn't know what to do, Sam beaming down at him and Nathan beaming up.
"Ohh, is that right?" Sam asked happily, his voice getting into high-cute-puppy-speak territory again before going back down. "Damn right he is!" Sam had long given up on policing his swearing, at least when it came to "hells" and "damns", since he'd discovered that it was damn near impossible to do so--at least in his own case. But he did manage to draw the line and rein it in when it came to "fucks" and "shits"--so far. And besides, "hell" and "damn" were both words they'd learn in the more Catholic sense within the orphanage, anyway.
"And how 'bout you?" Sam asked, shifting his focus to Nate, smile still on his face but one mirth-some eyebrow now raised. This was another of Sam's greatest traits, and Nathan loved him even more for it; he never focused too long on one brother, never once forgot to ask about something. Never once made either brother feel overlooked. And he managed to do it casually, too, even though protectiveness and seriousness always entered his voice when he was checking in. It always made Nathan feel somehow warm and fuzzy when he did that; it was nice to be looked after, and protected. Sam made them feel so safe, even though he was just a kid too.
He had to admit, even though he didn't have the responsibilities or self-inflicted pressures that Sam had, he could definitely understand the appeal of being protective. It made him feel tougher, more capable, stronger even, to be in charge of someone else and taking care of them. Having Sammy to look after definitely did that, and he kind of loved it. It was cool to be needed.
He shrugged now, trying not to look too much like a gleeful martyr. "I'm good, got an awesome grade on a mythology test." Sam grinned at that, and ruffled his hair again in what was his favorite thing to do to Nathan--particularly since he knew that Nathan would never let anyone else ever, ever, touch his head like that except Sam. "Heeeeeyyyy, nice one, little brother! Father Duffy's class?"
Nate nodded happily. He knew how much his brother liked Father Duffy; he always said he was "the one decent guy in there". "And we've got some new kids in; they're pretty cool."
Sam hummed happily, and shifted Sammy in his arms. "Hey Nathan, check this out," Sam said in a lower decibel, mischief on his face and his mouth squirming as he tried to hold in a laugh. Nathan's mouth did the same--because Sammy was doing his signature trick. "He's been practicing this on me, too," Nate said, and Sam's mouth twitched. "No kidding?" "Yeah," Nate laughed, "It's kind of adorable." Sam agreed; it was always adorable when Nate was holding Sammy, because he really wasn't much bigger in size and could barely do it sometimes, but he imagined that this trick was particularly so.
Every time Sam had to leave--or anyone Sammy liked, really, so basically Sam--Sammy would make himself as still as possible, not even moving a muscle, and stay very small and quiet. He was convinced that if he stayed like that, and Sam didn't notice him, then Sam would accidentally take him with him. And Sam had almost fallen for it once, too, if Nathan hadn't stopped him. They'd laughed for a long time after that, and Sam had jokingly said that they'd really have to keep an eye on him. They were practiced at noticing it now, and tonight was no different. Sammy was so immobile you'd think he was dead.
"He's not even blinking," Nathan whispered, grinning and growing impressed as the equally-grinning-Sam stood still (keeping his face straight ahead, to maintain the 'ruse' of talking to Nathan) and tried to wait Sammy out. After a few more seconds, Sam gave in-just like he always did, because there was a part of him that worried that Sammy might sometime try to hold his breath, and he was still too young to be doing that--and let his laugh trickle out of his mouth in a chuckle that became a real laugh. Nate joined him, and Sam started gently rustling Sammy with his left hand.
"Nice try, little guy," he said kindly, starting the process of gently extricating himself from his grasp like someone detaching an octopus, but Sammy still tensed. He didn't quite understand, but he knew from the subtle voice changes and the light of the night that Sam was leaving, and Sammy HATED it when Sam was leaving.
Sam knew that Sammy was a particularly easygoing little kid, and he always wanted to stop people on the street and brag about it when he saw that their kids were misbehaving. He wanted to puff his chest and say "MY baby brother's not like that at ALL. My baby brother's so easy, I can count the amount of times he's cried on one hand. My baby brother never keeps me awake if he's not supposed to, or is mean to other kids, or gets in trouble. My brother's the best.". He and Nate had marveled at it before--and so had their mom, Sam remembered. They'd been talking about it one day a while ago, him and Nathan, and Nathan had wondered aloud at it. "We have such an easy brother," he'd mused, while they leaned against the air vent and watched Sammy play with a beetle--aka watch it closely, his nose a millimeter away from it, but never touching it, humming happily. They'd only managed to get him to leave Sam's neck by promising him that he could come right back after he said hi to the beetle, because they knew he wanted to but that he was scared to stop holding on to Sam. It always made Sam's chest hurt when his brother was like that, in a sweetly stinging kind of way. "Yeah, we really do," Sam had answered warmly, his head back in the sunshine and his other arm up and over Nathan, resting on the vent behind their heads, and his mouth around an apple. "Do you think it's 'cause of Mom?" Nate had asked quietly, and Sam had stopped chewing for a second and glanced over. Nate was still watching Sammy introspectively, but Sam started watching him carefully. He swallowed his piece of apple, thinking on what to say. It hurt to think about Mom, so he really really tried not to.
"I asked her that once," he laughed sadly. "And do you know what she said?" He watched as Nate turned to look at him, a strange look in his big blue eyes. A desperate one. A pensive one.
"What?"
Sam smiled sadly now, then put his arm around his younger brother and looked back out ahead at Sammy. "She said 'honestly, Sam, I don't think it's got anything to do with me. I think we actually just really, really lucked out."
Nate laughed, and Sam squeezed him in a one-armed hug bracingly. "Hey Sammy, how's the beetle?" he asked, feeling better, and the day went on in the sunshine.
So Sam and Nate both knew now that even though Sammy really hated leaving Sam, he wasn't going to put up much of a fuss. Sammy wasn't that kind of little boy. There'd be no crying, or temper tantrums--and it was a good thing, too, since their visits involved a lot of sneaking and any long, loud noises would get them caught. Although Nate had already told Sam that he suspected Sister Catherine knew, but that she was actually on board with it and was just letting them do it anyway. (He was right; Sister Catherine was fond of those special boys, and she could feel that there would be something undeniably wrong about keeping a boy from seeing his brothers. Especially his little ones. Once in a while she liked to sneak a cigarette and watch them from the window, like she had tonight. It made her happy, made her feel...something, and she knew that these boys were some good ones).
As usual, they were right; Sammy tensed, and walked the line between resisting and just not-exactly-cooperating, while Sam lifted him and started to pass him over to the waiting Nathan, who had hopped down to the ledge and was reaching up, murmuring comforting little comments all along. Sam had never seen any other toddler who could actually manage to look 'rueful', but Sammy always did, his face staring after Sam as he left. Tonight he let out a little sound, and reached one more fleeting time, his eyes persistently fixed on Sam's, and Sam couldn't help getting down on his stomach to lean down for one more mid-air hug. "It's okay, Sammy, it's okay," he said sweetly, chest hurting. "I'll be right back, I'll be back before you know it, isn't that right Nathan-"
Nathan immediately helped, saying "Yes he will Sammy, don't worry he's coming back! Okay? Let's go get some sleep how 'bout--" And he tenderly rearranged Sammy into his arm. But Sammy's face still looked sad. Sam leaned out even further and reached out a hand. "Okay Sammy, one little high five, huh buddy?" Sammy's face brightened a little; Sam had spent a while teaching him how to high-five, and he was still excited about it. He reached down to touch Sammy's now reaching-up hand, a tiny one against a big one, in a silent little palm-to-palm gesture as delicately as if he were touching a butterfly's wings. The tenderness in his heart hurt, but still made him smile; Sammy's hand was so little, and so cute against his...
"Mhmph." He coughed a little and pulled himself back, literally shaking his head to try to get a grip. "You're too cute for your own good, you know that?" He tried to make a scolding face but failed, and Nathan laughed. "Or maybe for MY own good," he muttered cheerily. He reached out abruptly and ruffled Nathan's hair, who grinned up at him like a tomfool Peter Pan, and then jerked his head towards their room. "Go across now, so I can make sure you made it."
Nathan nodded and thought of saying "Say bye, Sammy!" but thought better of it, since the high-five had seemed to work. He turned on the ledge and carefully repositioned himself for the little hop across, shuffling Sammy in his arms tightly--who was still looking at Sam, but now reluctantly turned to look where they were going--and rearranging his feet. It was little more than a big step, and he did it just fine--but Sam still watched nervously until they had made it across. Sammy reached for the windowsill as they arrived at it, even though it was too far for him to reach, like a baby raccoon trying to learn to climb. Nate and Sam both swelled with pride every time he did that; they couldn't wait to climb with him. Now, Nate lifted Sammy up--feeling strong and tough as he did so--to be on the ledge, and Sammy climbed dutifully back into the room, as slowly and cutely as Winnie the Pooh would have. Nate hopped up after him, and they both turned to look out the window and give Sam a wave, still adorned in bright happy smiles. Sammy was cheerier now; he loved waving, and did it exuberantly. Sam laughed again, feeling so full of warm bubbly feelings from the night that it was as if he swallowed champagne. He waved back and murmured "Be good, all right?" in a firm voice tinged with affection before turning to go.
Nate's voice stopped him.
"Sam!"
He looked back, and saw Nate's now-serious, but still happy face. "I'm so proud of you. Go enjoy your job--you're working with TREASURE!!!" It was an excited whisper, and Sam couldn't help but grin with glee back. He raised his hand in one more high five, and both of his baby brothers raised theirs back.