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In many ways, it was lucky that Elena and Sully were still talking to each other. It made getting into Yemen easier, of course, but it also made Nate think he had a chance.
He hadn’t meant to cheat on his wife with adventure. It was just one of those things where one job became two became him being in and out of the house for four months. What Nate had actually wanted was Elena to come with him, go on adventures like the old days, but after Shambala she hadn’t quite been the same.
To be fair, he hadn’t either. Her recovery had been more touch and go than he wanted and whenever she did come on jobs, he was constantly worried about her well-being and safety. The first time she had stayed behind on an artifact hunt, Nate had felt free. And then he had felt guilty.
The plane came to a halt on the tarmac and Nate stepped into the aisle (despite being a pilot, Sully always claimed the window seat to watch the clouds) to reach for the bags. They got to the front of the plane faster than Nate had expected and suddenly he was squinting into the bright Arabian Peninsula day.
As his eyes adjusted, he started scanning the airport for an out of place shock of blonde hair. He almost didn’t want to find her first - he hoped being surprised by her presence versus seeking it out would make his nerves calm down.
Another thought crossed Nate’s mind - what if she wasn’t there? What if she sent their credentials through a friend or someone else and he didn’t get to see her? Nate’s heart broke at the thought.
You can’t have it both ways Drake. Nate thought to himself. After searching his feelings for a moment, he decided he wanted to see her. He missed her.
Sully must have noticed his heightened state because he leaned over to Nate and said, “It’s gonna be alright, sonny. She’s right over there” and he gestured towards a luggage car passing by.
And then suddenly there she was, Elena. His Elena. Well, at least, used to be his Elena. She was dressed in a blue button down over a white long sleeve shirt with a pair of grey pants. Her hair was swept back into her trademark bun to keep it out of her face. And she still had the power to make Nate’s heart pull double time.
Did she look...nervous? Elena didn’t have the best poker face but her body language had always told Nate a lot more than she knew. He used to take one look at her smiling face and could instantly tell she’d had a garbage day just by the way she was sitting on the couch. The fact that he wasn’t 100% sure of her, of being able to understand her, was like a knife to the gut.
Sully, able to cut the tension in any situation, lifted his arms in greeting as he said, “Elena Fisher, Foreign Correspondent.”
Nate hung back as Elena approached, a smile brightening up her face upon seeing Sully. She hadn’t even glanced at him.
“How ya doin’ sweetheart?” Sully asked, as he went in for a hug.
Wary, Elena backed away from him before Sully’s arms could wrap around her. Nate was no longer blocked by his partner’s albatross wingspan and body. He had hoped that Sully was buying him some time to come up with a good opener - what do you say to the wife you hadn’t spoken to in months who was doing you a favor - but now he was completely exposed.
“Uh, no, sorry - that’s sorta frowned upon here.” Elena said, apologetically.
Sully deflated but brightened when Elena followed up with, “You two can hold hands though,” gesturing between Nate and Sully.
At the mention of hands, Nate panicked, forcing his eyes to look anywhere but at Elena’s hands. Would she still be wearing her ring? He had thought about this small circle of silver metal the entire flight from Syria. What did it mean if she wasn’t wearing it? But more importantly, what did it mean if she was?
To cover his tracks, he laughed at Elena’s bad joke and went with a neutral greeting, “How are you Elena?”
She didn’t look at him as she quietly replied, “Good, thanks.”
“You, uh, you look great.” Nate said, his mouth speaking before his mind could stop it.
Elena continued as if he hadn’t spoken, “So against my better judgement, these permits will get you through most checkpoints.” She held out the small plastic cards in her hand towards Nate and Sully.
Nate was on her left side, so he had no choice but to look at her hand as he took the small plastic press card from her. He paused. The band of silver winked up at him in the sunlight, right where he placed it on her third finger all that time ago.
She’s still wearing the ring, his mind registered for him.
His heart clenched and then sped up. She’s still wearing the ring. He couldn’t get over it. She hadn’t taken it off or thrown it into the sea. She had kept it on, all this time, after everything. Elena had kept the ring. His hope rekindled in his chest - maybe he could salvage this. Maybe he could be with the love of his life again.
For the first time in a long time, Nate wished he knew where his ring was.
Bringing himself back to the task at hand, Nate replied with an, “Okay, great” that he hoped was fast enough to cover for his obvious hyperfocus on her hand. Credentials handed off, Elena started to walk backwards towards the terminal.
“Oh, and I shouldn’t be worried about what’s in those bags right?” she asked.
Nate replied negatively as he reached for Sully’s hand, hoping to make Elena laugh, but she had already turned away from them.
* * *
The hard part was over, Elena had seen Nate. Finally. After all these months of barely hearing from him.
And of course he still made her heart skip a beat, damn him.
As they exited the airport, Elena tried to get some more details on what Nate and Sully were actually doing in Yemen. She knew she was the last person they would have called for help had there been literally any other way for them to get into this country. Which means they had to be up to something at least skirting the law if not wholly outside of it.
So when Nate responded to her question with “historical research” and “totally no cursed treasures or warlords involved, guaranteed” her anger flashed. Of course he was here on something dangerous and foolhardy, why pretend otherwise? Why had she expected anything different from him?
And more importantly, why was he still lying to her? It’s not like he had a reason to hide these trips from her. It’s not like they were even trying to pretend they were married or “playing house” anymore. She didn’t even know where in the world he was most of the time.
“You are the worst liar,” she said, exasperation in her voice.
Nate seemingly offended at the implication, as if priding yourself on your ability to mislead people was a good thing, replied, “what?” and when Elena wouldn’t back down he got further irritated.
“Oh, come on, we’re not going to start this are we?” Nate said.
Elena wanted to scream. How did this man, this same man whom she loved, who had held her while she cried in her sleep after El Dorado, who had nursed her back to health after Shambala, who had left her behind to go gallivanting across the globe after gold, always bring out this side of her?
Before Elena could respond, Sully, sensing what was coming, leaned in and asked, “Excuse me. The car, where is it?”
Bless Sully, Elena thought as his interruption gave her a chance to take a breath and come at this conversation with Nate calmly.
“It’s over there,” she said, gesturing at the red jeep parked a few yards away from them.
“I’ll just take the bags and meet you,” Sully said, reaching for Nate’s bag and then hightailing it out of there like the smart man he was.
Nate looked exasperated as they watched Sully walk away. Elena followed him with her eyes and noticed that carrying both of the bags seemed a little harder for him than she remembered. She really took Sully in as he walked away, this old man who had been looking after Nate for so long - was anyone looking out for him?
Elena opened her mouth to talk to Nate about Sully - whatever happened with them would happen (and often she felt like maybe the answer was to just finally end it) but at least Nate had to think of Sully - but what he said next took the words right out of her mouth.
“You’re still wearing it.” He gestured at the metallic band on her left ring finger.
Nate seemed...surprised that she still was. She had noticed right away that he wasn’t wearing his anymore. She had at least been prepared for it so it hadn’t cut quite as much as it could have but it still hurt to see it. Had he really given up on them? Did he really think they couldn’t come back from this? That they weren’t worth coming back from this?
It would be a lie to say that she hadn’t thought about taking her ring off and leaving it behind in some country just to spite him, just to hurt him. But, whenever she twirled that small circle of metal around her finger, weighing leaving it on the nightstand or not, she always ended up sliding it back on. Elena had always been stubborn and a fighter, she never gave up on anything, even if it would have been better for her to do so in the long run.
And simply put, she loved him. She loved the way he only read history books and her articles. She loved the way he looked at the world - like it was one big adventure. She loved that he rarely complained about things that mattered and would try anything and everything under the sun. But aside from all of that he listened to her (most of the time), he valued her, he cared for her. And it certainly helped that the sex was incredible and he was hot as hell.
That still didn’t mean she thought Nate would have noticed that she was still wearing her ring. Caught off guard by the question, she answered with a very eloquent, “Yeah, I am.”
Nate seemed to be expecting more so she followed up with, “It helps in this part of the world.” As if it even did. As if she wasn’t wearing the ring just for herself.
“Oh really.”
Ok, now she was getting annoyed. If he had wanted to have a conversation about why she was still wearing this ring, why she still thought they had a chance, why she still loved him, he could have not ambushed her at the airport with it. So she went for the jugular.
“Seriously, don’t flatter yourself.” She noticed that while he may not be wearing her ring, he did still have a ring. “I see you’re still wearing yours.”
Nate stared at her a moment, clearly confused before recognition dawned on him and he fiddled with Drake’s ring around his neck. “What? Oh, oh yeah.”
Understanding dawned on Elena. That ring is why he was here. That ring is why he did anything in his life. “That’s what this is all about isn’t it?”
Nate went into an overview about Drake coming to Yemen instead of going on to England and hiding his route and blah blah blah. All she could think about was his obsession with this. His obsession with Drake had already rotted so many things in his life - pieces of his childhood, his friends, their marriage even. Was it going to burn everything in his life to the ground? Even his relationship with Sully?
“Why this obsession? I’m...I’m just worried - “ Elena started.
“I can take care of myself,” Nate said, annoyed.
“I’m not talking about you,” she said, looking pointedly at Sully, smoking a cigar by the jeep.
Nate followed her gaze and scoffed. “What, Sully?”
For such a smart man, he could really miss the forest for the trees.
“He would go to the ends of the Earth for you Nate. Just - don’t ask him to.” And with that final word, Elena walked towards the jeep, Nate following, complaining all the while.
Just like old times, Elena thought.
* * *
Nate had wanted to make a joke as he was entering Elena’s apartment, something to make her laugh like old times, something to take him away from this nightmare he found himself in. Something to take him away from how alone he felt.
But the best he could do after a cruise from hell was to not collapse in her entryway.
Elena hung up her phone and practically ran across the apartment to him, pulling him into a tight embrace. Nate encircled her with his arms, pressing his face into hair. The scent of jasmine filled his nostrils - she was still using the same shampoo. He’d missed it.
God, he was tried. Physically tired, sure, but also tired of letting Elena slip through his fingers. Of letting the reunion he so desperately wanted, consistently taking the back burner. All because he was stubborn and wrong and just couldn’t admit it.
Now was the time to crack that joke.
“Hey...I thought this was...frowned upon.” Nate said, the words taking more effort than he cared to admit.
He could feel her smile against him as she pulled back from the hug but the frown almost instantly came back when she looked at his face.
“I really thought you were gone this time. Are you ok?” Elena reached her hand up to cup his face. Her hands had softened a bit since the last time he had felt them across his skin but he could still sense the calluses underneath, calluses from a different time. The cool metal of her ring was soothing against his skin.
As much as he wanted to lean into this moment, as much as he wanted to sink to the floor and beg for her forgiveness, he knew that there was something slightly more pressing than getting his love life back in order - Sully.
Though, of all people, Sully would be the one to encourage Nate to focus on fixing his life with Elena over anything else. Nate couldn’t count the number of times Sully told him to not come on this job or that job or to just call Elena and talk it through. Hell, Sully was the only one who had been there, when deep with petulant rage, he took his ring off and left it on the bar in some rundown place outside Rio de Janeiro.
He almost didn’t want to ask the question.
“Is...uh…” Nate couldn’t finish that thought so he tried a different tact. “Is Sully…?”
Elena, thankfully, got what he was going for and didn’t actually make him ask if his partner, his father figure, was actually still breathing.
“He’s alive.” Elena said, looking away from him.
Nate’s heart soared as he walked further into the apartment, a 100 pound weight taken off his chest. “Oh thank god.”
“But they’ve got him.” Elena said, sending Nate spiraling back down to Earth.
“What? Where?”
“They’re in a convoy, headed into the desert,” he replied.
Panic gripped Nate - Marlowe had Sully. She had him. And she was dragging him into the desert all because of Nate. All because he couldn’t leave well enough alone. Couldn’t let being right be enough like Elena had said. Oh no, Nathan Drake had to prove he was the smartest one in the room and rub everyone’s nose in it.
Nate turned back towards the door as he said, “We gotta go - “ and then almost fell completely onto his face. He was lucky Elena caught him and propped him back up against her entryway.
Elena nudged Nate towards the couch (which until this moment, Nate had never realized a couch could hurt to sit on - every muscle was screaming in agony) and shut the door to the apartment while explaining the situation which sounded like every possible thing that could have gone in Marlowe’s favor, had.
“We gotta try - “ Nate started but wasn’t able to finish as Elena said, “I have a plan.”
As she started to outline her plan to stowaway on a cargo plane that was dropping supplies to the caravan, Nate was truly amazed. Not that she had come up with this, she had always been the most capable of the three of them when it came to things like this, no, what had amazed him and that this would do this for Sully. And in some small way, she would do this for him - she knew what Sully meant to him.
Why had he ever let her go? Why had he ever chosen treasure and adventure over her?
“You do realize that means parachuting in, right?” Nate asked, trying to be quippy.
Elena chucked, clearly remembering how well that had gone last time.
Psyching himself up, Nate said, “Ok, I could really use a glass of water and then we oughta get going.” He made to push himself off the couch and (hopefully) stand up, but Elena quickly stilled him.
“No, no, no, no, - my contact at the airport says that the plane isn’t taking off until dawn.” She slipped her hand behind his back to rub his shoulders. “In the meantime, just try to get a couple hours sleep.”
When Nate started to protest, Elena settled back on the couch and gently, but forcefully, pushed him into a lying down position while saying, “My contact will call if anything changes.”
Nate settled his head onto Elena’s lap, legs overhanging the end of the couch, and looked to the table again with Elena’s map, gun, and other plans. The magnitude of what Elena was going to do, alone, hit him again.
“You were really gonna do all this on your own, huh?” He said, surprised and impressed.
“For Sully - yeah.” She replied, as if it was the easiest thing in the world. Nate wondered, if Sully was the one who had shown up here and Nate had been missing, if she’d have had a plan laid out like this for him, would have come after him.
His heart wanted to say yes, even after everything, she still would have.
At the very least, Sully was one thing they could agree on right now. Well, and there was one other thing. Nate looked up at her as best he could - his back was killing him and turning to look her full in the face was more than he could bear.
“I like the way you think.”
He could sense a smirk on her face as she said, “I know.” Her hand started to fiddle with his hair in a soothing gesture.
He leaned into it but continued his flow of thoughts - he hadn’t meant the way she thought about this Sully problem - he meant he liked the way she thought all the time, about everything. Nate wanted to be the one to hear her think about things and share her ideas. He could think of a number of times when he had been on jobs that Elena would have had an answer to a problem, if only he could have asked her.
He tried to explain all of this to her but all that came out of his mouth was “No, I mean that’s…” Nate was so tired, it was hard to keep focused.
Elena paused her movements and her breath for a moment before saying, “I know what you mean.”
Nate looked to the hand in her lap and noticed it was her left hand, wedding ring clear as day on her finger. Seeing it gave him a massive pang of guilt in his chest. He had been so unfair to her, so unkind for too long. And yet here she was, welcoming him into her apartment, waging a one woman war to save his partner. Why was he throwing this all away?
He slipped his hand around hers, focus intent on the ring as he said, trying to put all of his emotions behind it, “I’m sorry.” He knew it wasn’t enough, but he hoped it could be a start.
Elena was quiet after that but didn’t remove her hand from his. He thought he heard her say “I know” very quietly before he drifted off to sleep.
- - -
“Nate...hey….Nate, it’s time to get up. Don’t make me get the cold water like that time in Lagos” Elena said, rubbing his back in methodical circles. If they ever decided to have kids, assuming she took him back, she was going to be a fantastic mother.
Nate stirred and rolled onto his back which turned out to be a mistake. Every muscle in his body ached but seeing Elena’s face looking down at him made it worth it. Strands of her hair had fallen out of it’s customary bun and the hand that had been rubbing his back was now resting softly on his chest. It reminded him of old times, waking up with her in the mornings.
They lay like that for a few moments more before Nate pushed himself out of Elena’s lap and sat on the couch, facing her.
“You ready?” He asked her.
“Ready as I’ll ever be I guess. Still not looking forward to jumping out of a plane but what can you do,” she said, a small smile on her face.
She made a move to get up off the couch but Nate caught her hand and with a gentle tug she sat back down. Elena looked at him expectantly but didn’t pull her hand away.
“I just...wanted to be clear about some things. I know this isn’t enough but...in case...I want to be up front and say that I’m sorry - that I’ve messed up, and not just once but many times over. I haven’t been fair to you and I haven’t been kind to you and I...I love you Elena and I haven’t acted like it recently. I just wanted to make sure you knew that.” Nate reached his other hand up to caress her face.
She looked at him, leaning into his caress, her hand squeezing his, for a long moment before nodding and saying, “Yeah, you’ve been an absolute shit Nathan Drake.”
Nate laughed with her at that, bringing his other hand to rest on her lap.“And you’re right, it’s not enough but...it’s not nothing. I-I appreciate it.” And then she did something completely unexpected.
Elena leaned in and gently pressed her lips against his. It was quick but it still gave Nate a jolt to the heart. God, kissing her was fantastic - even something like this that wasn’t intended to lead anywhere. In some ways, a kiss like this was even more intimate since the goal wasn’t the bedroom - it was the moment. He made to deepen the kiss but Elena pulled back just as abruptly.
Looking away from him she said, voice rough, “We better get going - we have a flight to catch.”
* * *
The line at the check in counter was long enough for Elena to actually take a moment to think, which was dangerous. It just sent her back to the same few scenes that had been playing on repeat in her head.
- - -
When she heard Nate land on the other side of the fence she was furious. Of course, he was going to leave her behind again. Hadn’t she earned her place this time? It was her plan they were trying to execute here.
Then she heard the pleading in his voice as he asked her to stop climbing and it gave her pause. Elena hadn’t heard this tone of voice in a serious way since he was asking her to eat after her injuries in Shambala.
When she reached the ground, Nate started.
“Let’s be honest. This is a...this is a million-to-one shot. When I almost lost you before -”
Elena could see where this was going and replied, “You’re not gonna -” but she didn’t get to finish as Nate interrupted.
“I just can’t do that again,” he said, eyes serious and vulnerable.
Elena was surprised - that has not been the sentiment she was expecting. She had been expecting that she would be a burden or in the way but not...not this. He did still care about her. Clearly.
He gestured towards the car, Elena following the motion. “So just take that jeep over there and get the hell out of here alright? While you can.”
She looked at him again, trying to memorize every feature of his face and of this moment - the stillness of the night air, their hands entwined through the bars of the fence. She encouraged him to go and then, with one last look at her wayward husband, she got in the jeep.
As luck would have it was good she stuck behind or else Nate would never have made it onto the plane. As the wheels ascended and Nate was carried into the belly of the beast, Elena thought, You better come back. We’re not finished yet.
- - -
The plan had been to give Sully the bed in Elena’s apartment but he wouldn’t hear of it. Nate had been hurt worse, he argued, Nate had done the brunt of the rescuing - he deserved it. And besides, while, yes, Sully had been kidnapped by a power crazed ex-girlfriend, he had been kept in style.
So that was how Nate had ended up in Elena’s bed and Sully on the couch where he was softly snoring, fast asleep.
Elena was looking through her small closet to see what combination of clothes, towels, and other miscellany would make the floor a bit more comfortable when she heard Nate from under the covers say, “You don’t have to, you know.”
She looked behind her at him, lying comfortably in the bed she had worried in for the last few days. Worried that they wouldn’t come back. Worried that the last thing she would ever say to the man she loved was “go.”
“I don’t think that’s the best idea, cowboy.”
Nate smiled and then said, “Just for a little while? You deserve to get some decent rest.”
She wasn’t sure if it was his face, his words, or the realization that there wasn’t enough fabric in the world to make that floor comfortable, but she went to the other side of the bed and lay down. Nate fluffled the covers so that they were covering both of them. Elena looked at him, resting on his side looking at her. She distinctly noticed the lack of a dangling ring around his neck.
Before she could say anything, Nate started reaching for her, then paused midway before just resting his hand on the bed. It was pretty obvious he wanted to be closer to her but he didn’t want to overstep whatever walls he had built with his absence. Possibly against her better judgement, Elena said, “You’re allowed to, you know.”
With Nate if you give an inch, he’ll take a mile, and suddenly she found herself wrapped up completely in his arms, the back of her head pressed into his chest. Elena felt a gentle kiss on her temple that was so light it could easily have been her imagination (she didn’t think it was though).
They lay like that for a while, not speaking, just being with each other. It should have been awkward. Elena should have been mad - and she was - but in this moment, that didn’t seem the most important thing. What seemed to be the most important thing was the two strong arms encircling her and how they made her feel. The rise and fall of the chest she was leaning against getting slower and softer. She made to get out of the bed so that Nate could sleep but the arms around her waist tightened and she heard an anguished, “please...please don’t go” from behind her.
Elena turned in his arms so that she was facing him. She felt her anger flare up at that - he always left so why couldn’t she - but she fought it off for now. Nate just wanted some comfort for a night. She could provide that to the man she loved even if their time together was coming to an end - whether that was in the forever sense or not, was still to be seen. He had apologized and it had seemed sincere, but would there be an actual change?
She caressed his cheek and leaned in towards his face. He met her halfway and their lips pressed together. This kiss was sensual and slow - they had nowhere to be after all. Kissing Nate had never stopped being exciting - at first it had been because he was so outside of who she normally dated and it was “just a fling” - but even as they had been together longer, her thirst for this adventure was never quite satiated.
Elena felt their bodies move, as if in sync, to be closer together but Nate kept some distance between them and didn’t try to push Elena towards something more. He seemed perfectly content to just kiss her until she wanted to stop. She pulled him close for one last kiss before finally breaking away.
Elena felt her head be guided to his chest, where she could hear his heartbeat gradually slow down. His breathing evened out and she could tell he was fast asleep. She burrowed deeper into his chest, accepting her fate.
She tried not to get her hopes up.
- - -
After finally making it to the front of the line and retrieving her ticket, Elena exited the airport and felt the warm sun on her face. She saw Nate and Sully off in the distance but didn’t head for them; they looked to be in a serious conversation, which for those two was rare enough to not interrupt it.
She started checking through her bag one last time to make sure she hadn’t left anything behind - she wouldn’t be returning to Yemen soon thanks to her contract running out. Satisfied that everything important was contained within her bag, she looked up to see Nate approaching her.
He hadn’t tried to talk to her about their kiss or them spending the night together and what that meant, if it meant anything. So, Elena had read the room. This was likely the beginning of the end - one last fling, one last adventure for old time’s sake but that was it.
The thought of the impending end of her marriage was in some ways a relief but she mostly was just filled with sorrow. Nate and Elena were a great team, had been since the very beginning with El Dorado. She felt like they could solve any puzzle, and she still believed that, it just seemed she wasn’t a treasure worth deciphering ancient tricks and traps for to Nate.
They made awkward small talk when Elena felt she finally needed to acknowledge the albatross around his neck (or lack of one). As much as Drake’s ring had symbolized so many terrible things to Elena, it had been special to Nate.
Reaching up, she gently tapped his chest where Drake’s ring usually lay and said, “I’m really sorry about your ring.”
Nate half shrugged as he said, “It’s alright.” His left hand moved up to capture hers. “I swapped it for something better.”
And there, sitting comfortably on his third finger, was the ring. His ring. His wedding ring.
Elena was shocked - here was her change, her action. This meant...this meant he wanted to try. This meant he was ready to commit to the life they had been trying for together. It wasn’t the solution - there was so much they had to talk through - but it was a symbol. It was an olive branch to her.
She reached out and grabbed it.