#rafe adler x oc | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

s1cparvism4gna · 4 years ago

Text

PuNK

WARNINGS: cursing

Pairings: Rafe Adler x OC

Tags: @desertvvitch, @courtenbae, @tiecladartist

Chapter 7

Rafe’s POV

“No.” I said firmly.

“And why not?” I was on a call with Nadine Ross. Since Samuel evidently had decided to take matters into his own hands and steal from me, I had to do a bit of damage control. I enlisted the help of Shoreline, a group of mercenaries for hire. Nadine was the leader and was currently fighting me to bring her men to the auction. But to me, that was unnecessary. I didn’t need a bunch of goons walking around a high class area flashing their guns at every suspicious person. The whole room was going to be full of suspicious people.

“Because I’m the one writing your checks. What I say goes. It’s either just you or nobody at all.” I was trying my best not to yell. When I looked up from my maps and books, I noticed Lyric passed out on the couch across from me, her hair hanging in her face and snoring a little. I smiled to myself and stood to grab my jacket.

“Rafe, what if—”

“‘What if’ nothing. I have it under control. Security will be tight enough and if anything goes wrong, they’ll handle it.” I said to her as I placed my jacket over Lyric’s thin frame, gently moving her hair from her face. Her thick lashes fluttered on her cheekbones as she groaned and turned in her sleep.

“Fuck…” she said rather clearly, scratching her head and pulling my jacket closer to her face. I smirked as I went back to my seat, wondering what she could possibly be dreaming about. I could hear Nadine arguing about whatever in my ear as I leaned back into my seat, just watching her sleep. She looked so peaceful. Like she needed the rest. Like she needed this trip. I hated to admit it but I needed it too. Things at work had been so stressful. Two or three days in Italy with someone who didn’t entirely piss me off seemed like a good way to wind down.

“No muscle at the auction, Ms. Ross, and that’s final. I’ll hear no more about it.” I eventually said, tired of the nagging in my ear. “I will see you at the auction.”

“Alright…” she answered defeatedly. And with that, she’d hung up.

I pulled the ear piece out and tossed it into my briefcase. I’d been working since we finished dinner and it was time I took a break. I organized my desk, putting my files and maps into a neat pile and sipped on my wine that I happened to forget about. The glass was no longer chilled but I didn’t care. It was a little something to relax. After a few sips, I reclined the seat, crossing my fingers and resting them in my lap as I threw my head back. I closed my eyes hoping that maybe I’d fall asleep. I was on the brink of drifting away when I heard a sigh. I opened my eyes just enough to see through my eyelashes. Lyric was moaning and whining in her sleep. Not the disturbed kind of noise though. More like arousal. For about ten minutes she went on like this, just shifting in her seat. I bit my lip as I listened to her sweet voice crying out softly in need. Now I definitely wanted to know what she was dreaming about. A high pitched soft moan and sharp gasp passed from her lips, causing my heart to skip and a twitch in my pants. It was absolutely inappropriate to think about but as my eyes wandered over her face, they landed on her lips. I wanted to kiss them. They looked so soft and warm and smooth. I could feel my face frowning, upset that I wasn’t the one making her sound this way. After a while, she quieted down but my thoughts did not. I wanted to dig my fingers into her wild blonde tresses, have her long long legs wrapped around my waist. I wanted her. The real her. Not the one she shows me at work. Even though I realized at that point that I barely knew who she was to begin with. I could only hope that would change throughout the weekend.

Eventually I found myself falling asleep. Not for long though. The stewardess ended up coming to wake me 15 minutes before we landed. When I opened my eyes, she gave me a kind smile. I looked out of the window next to me, blinking myself awake rather slowly as I admired the sunrise and the aerial view of Rome. In my opinion, it wasn’t such a bad thing to wake up to. I yawned and sat up in my seat, stretching my back, cracking my neck. She patted my shoulder in a motherly fashion and disappeared into the back of the plane again. I stood up, brushing the random strands of hair off of my face and sat on the couch next to my sleeping assistant. I yawned again, running my hand down her shoulder, shaking her awake gently as I whispered her name. Her eyes fluttered open and immediately her face turned a bright red. She jumped a little, startled by seeing me and I held my hands up in defense.

“It’s just me!” I said softly with a smile. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.” She blinked at me a couple times as she sat up, my jacket falling off of her as she did. “We’re about to land and I, uh…. figured you might wanna see the sky view.” I told her, raising the blind that covered the small window near her head, pointing at the view. She turned around and the look on her face was priceless. She brought her fingers to her lips, concealing the wide grin that spread across her lips and gasped in wonder. The sunlight seemed to make her eyes shine a bit brighter than normal and I tore my gaze away to enjoy the view with her. It was a fantastic sight.

“This is amazing…” she said in awe.

“Wait til we actually get into the city.” I said, standing as I began to gather up my things to put them into my briefcase. She scooted to the edge of her seat and threw her arms in the air, stretching out her long limbs and I tried my damnedest not to look. She picked up her heels and put them back on her feet before leaning into the couch. I could feel her eyes on me as I got my things together. I looked up with a chuckle as her eyes narrowed.

“Did you finish what you needed to do?” She asked me.

“Uh… yeah.” I lied all too easily, sitting back in my recliner. The way she twirled a lock of hair around her finger told me that she didn’t believe a word.

“And did you get any sleep?” She asked. I forced a puff of air and ran my hand down my face tiredly.

“Actually, yes. More sleep than I would at home if you can believe it.”

“I don’t but okay.” She smirked. That time I was actually telling the truth. Normally I’d get maybe 2 or 3 hours in before I had to go to work. This time I got maybe 5. I could really feel the difference. If it were up to me though, I wouldn’t have gotten up at all. “You’re taking another nap before we go anywhere.” She told me boldly. I laughed. At least she cared enough.

“I think you missed the part where I’m your boss and I tell you what to do.” I said. But like a nagging wife, she was right. I could’ve used an hour or two more. “I’ll tell you what. We’ll both take some time to wind down before lunch.”

“What are we having?!” She damn near jumped out of her seat.

“I’m feeling like pasta.” I hummed. “With an excessive amount of Parmesan.”

When we landed at the hangar, we were greeted by a shiny black car, ready to take us to where we’d be staying. I booked a villa for us instead of a hotel. I figured it’d be quieter and not to mention there was a killer view from every balcony and patio. It was a nice 75 degrees out that morning. The wind pushed against us as we descended the stairs. The driver greeted us with a smile and opened the door for us before retrieving our bags. Lyric slid into the car and rubbed her eyes before groaning loudly.

“What is it?” I asked.

“I forgot I had makeup on… I probably look a mess now.” She grumbled.

“I don’t think so. You look good.” I told her truthfully. She stared at me as a blush tinted her cheeks.

“Thank you?” She wasn’t sure what to make of that. The fault being my own, I didn’t compliment her much. That was something that could change. The car began to drive us through the city and into the country just on the outskirts. A massive change from the big city buildings turning into rolling hills of green, some plots of land with small houses nearby. Everything looked so fresh and alive. A stark comparison to the area of New York we’d just come from. The skies were now blue and the clouds were perfectly fluffy.

It wasn’t long before we pulled into a long winding driveway, each side lined with well kept bushes of flowers. We pulled up to a two story beautifully stone built house, parts of it tastefully covered with vines and tall trees stood at its corners. There was a lovely little patio outside from what I could see. I could hear Lyric gasping as the car came to a stop. “No way we’re staying here….”

“Well I don’t feel like staying at a hotel so yes. We are.” I told her as the driver got out and opened my door. I then rounded the car and opened the door for her. Her eyes widened as she stepped out and looked around. The first thing she did was take her shoes off to walk in the soft plush grass out front. The grin on her face was something magical. I stood there a while and watched her wiggle her toes in the earth and my chest began to swell with adoration. She giggled and covered up her smile with her hands before looking at me.

“So… I can go inside there?” She asked rather childishly. I forced a laugh and nodded, shoving my hands in my pocket. She practically bolted into the house, throwing the doors open.

“And she’s off...” I chuckled as the driver began to grab our bags. I could hear her squealing from the upstairs.

“Holy shit!” I heard her swear and I burst into laughter. The house was pretty nice. Clean above all things, which I loved. The living space was open and looked cozy. The flooring was a pale hardwood and the walls, a detailed off white. Bricks molded the rounded archways and there was a fireplace as well. That bit I got excited about. I walked around, letting my fingertips grace the backs of the white couches and chairs, over the sea foam green colored pillows. That’s when my eyes landed on a massive, dark wood baby grand piano. Tucked in a corner was a beautiful Spanish guitar. ‘She’ll get a kick out of that…’ I thought as I pressed a few keys on the piano with a smirk. The driver placed our bags by the door and I paid him a generous tip, thanking him as he left us. I closed the double doors and sighed. It was going to be a long weekend.

Suddenly, Lyric appeared at the top of the stairs. “Did you see the piano?!” She exclaimed excitedly. I nodded.

“Yeah I did.” My heart was pounding from the beauty of her broad grin. “Did you see the guitar?” I asked.

“I MISSED A GUITAR?!” She began flying down the stairs to the corner I pointed at. She picked it up and her eyes seemed to light up.

“Do you play?” I asked feigning ignorance. Of course she played. You can’t be the lead singer of a band and not play.

“I play a little.” She answered coyly. I smirked.

“You’ll have to play for me some time.” I said, resting my jacket on the back of the couch and taking off my neck tie.

“You’ll have to get me really drunk. I get shy at small audiences.” She mumbled, running her thumb down the untuned strings of the instrument. The words just fell from my lips without thinking.

“You never have to be shy with me.” I said. She looked up and bit her lip nervously before setting the guitar back down. I tore my gaze from her to look down the hall. I could see the corner of a refrigerator. “Have you checked out the kitchen yet?” I asked. She shook her head no. “After you…” I gestured down the hall, stepping away to make room for her. She sauntered by and shuffled into the kitchen, me strolling behind her.

As we stopped at the bricked threshold of the kitchen, Lyric gasped. Turning around, she had the goofiest expression and let out a silent, whispery scream. I was impressed. The cabinets were all white and the countertops were a sandy granite. There was an island with a few stools and a massive refrigerator, complete with a wine cooler, stocked with the finest Italian wine. She gave an exaggerated gasp as she opened up the wine cooler and pulled a bottle of red. She looked at me with wide eyes.

“This kitchen…. I have to cook in this kitchen!” She exclaimed with an excited laugh. “Oh my god and look!” She said pointing to a massive rounded archway with double doors that led to the back. There were pillars wrapped in the greenest vines and on the bricked patio, a couple of dark arm chairs with white cushions, a coffee table was set in the middle of them decorated with a few candles and an ashtray. Along the outside wall were a few torches that could be lit on fire. Behind it was a set of bricked stairs, lined with small candles, that led into a grassy area. There was a small, rounded table near the edge where there was a magnificent view of the Italian countryside. I followed Lyric down the steps and we both stood by the edge of the grassy platform to stare at the sun still rising in the sky over the rolling hills. Further around the corner, was a decently sized pool and a hot tub. In an instant I began to think of all the things we could do. This was an unintentionally romantic place to be. If I had to be there with anyone though, I was glad it was her.

“Mr. Adler…. Thank you for taking me….” She sighed in awe, hugging the red wine bottle against her chest.

“Don’t thank me. Your research brought us here. You should enjoy it.” I said, leaning into the archway.

“No, Mr. Adler you don’t get it…. This is so much space… I…”

“If it’s what you wanna hear: you’re welcome.” I smiled. With that, I clapped my hands together and smiled. “Now. Since you’ve seen the upstairs before me, have you picked a room?” She turned to look at me with a puzzled expression.

“I was just gonna take the one you didn’t want… I mean I’m not picky.”

“Oh, please. Don’t women need their space to do…. woman things?”

“Yeah but you’re also my boss.” She told me. I stared at her a moment. Even away from the office, she tried her best to be a good employee.

“Such manners.” I mumbled. “Alright. I’ll go take a look and I’ll holler when I make a decision.”

It didn’t take long for me to choose. Both rooms were big and clean with their own bathrooms, both had nice TVs, both came with a massive window for a fantastic view of the countryside, both had decent closet and drawer space. The only difference was one had a vanity complete with a mirror and the other did not. I sighed, imagining Lyric sitting there, putting on her makeup or doing whatever it was she did to make her skin glow the way it did. I walked back down the stairs to grab my bag and took them to my room. Then I grabbed hers and laid them on the loveseat in front of her bed. Decisions made. “Lyric, I put your stuff in your room for you!” I hollered down the steps. I could hear the small pitter patter of her bare feet on the hardwood as she approached. Not wanting to swoon more than I already had, I grunted from behind my bedroom door.

“Are you sure that’s the one you want?” She asked me. I just nodded.

“I’m sure. Listen, you were right. I’m still a little tired so I’m gonna shower and take a few more hours.” I told her.

“Okay! Well�� I’ll work on getting us a car and maybe do some grocery shopping.” She smiled.

“Alright. Be careful walking around by yourself. If you need me, you have my number.”

“Of course, sir—”

“You can drop the formalities, Lyric. We’re not at the office.” I assured her. I wanted her to be comfortable. Here and around me. I could tell it baffled her a bit by the way her mouth hung open. I smiled at her a moment and took off my neck tie. “Go do what you need to do.” I told her before closing my door. I pressed my back against the door and groaned. Behaving around her was certainly going to be difficult. Especially with her just being so cute. And then there was hearing her on the plane. Those moans weren’t something I could easily forget. Shaking off the nerves, I began to unpack and ready myself for a nice long shower.

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quentinbecks · 3 years ago

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Kinktober Day 14: Public Sex

Title: Best Laid Plans

Pairing: Rafe Adler x OC (Charlie Berger)

Words: 4.2 k

Warnings: Absolutely pure smut, but mainly fingering, dirty talk, and sex in a storage room while a firefight is happening on the same property.

A/N: Charlie’s Uncharted AU is finally here! This was originally supposed to be a simple smutty prompt from @starsandskies kinktober list. But, knowing me, I had to make a whole, entire backstory for this. Thank you so much to @johnnycranes for enabling this ship and reading it for me when I was nervous about how my Rafe came out. You’re the best 💕

read on ao3

“Are you done pouting yet?”

Charlie is brought out of her reverie by Rafe absentmindedly placing kisses to her bare shoulder. Usually she enjoys the sorts of events they’re currently headed to; soirées full of stiff members of the upper echelon whose entire nights almost always seemed to be ruined by the couple’s mere presence. But tonight, all she can feel is worry coursing through her veins.

“No,” she whispers, tilting her head up as his lips travel up her throat. “You know how I feel about you constantly chasing that fucking treasure, Rafe.”

She feels a hot breath sighing against her neck before her partner’s head drops to her shoulder. “Honey, you know how important tonight is to me. You know how long I’ve waited to have the Saint Dismas cross in my hands.”

Charlie does know how important this is to him; how much he wants to earn something of his own rather than have it handed to him on a silver platter. But, sometimes she thinks he cares more about gold and treasure than he does her.

“Of course I do,” she says, watching as the limousine pulls up into the driveway of the Rossi Estate. Throngs of their fellow black market dealers and buyers sprawling out across the premises. “But you know how much I want to leave this life behind. I just want us to be normal. Boring, even. Why can’t we do that?”

“After I get Avery’s Treasure, I promise we will. Hey,” Rafe brings his fingers up to her chin, turning her face to look at him. “Soon we can be as boring as you want. We can even start a family,” he says, a small smile playing on his lips.

Charlie tries to smile in return, but his words just feel like another empty promise. “So you keep saying,” she says leaning in to place a peck to his lips.

Sighing deeply, Charlie steps out of the car, smoothing out the velvet of her emerald dress. Taking his arm, she allows Rafe to lead her through the doors and into the ballroom.

“I know you’re not in the mood for mingling with most of these people,” her partner whispers into her ear. “Once the auction is over and I have the cross, we can head straight out. Alright?” Green eyes flicker towards her looking for a response.

“In and out. Got it,” Charlie nods, grabbing some type of bruschetta off the platter of a passing waiter. “Grazie,” she says, sending a soft smile to the young man.

“Do you want to find our table while I try to track down Nadine?”

“Of course.” Olive eyes scan the crowd containing some of society's most elite, yet some of their worst as well. If you had told her as a little girl that these were the types she would commingle with as an adult she would have been horrified. “I think I see a few of my former -,” Charlie hums, trying to find the right word, “colleagues over there anyway.”

“You sure?,” Rafe asks her.

She simply nods in response, stepping forward to place a lingering kiss to his cheek. “Yes. Now go,” she says as she steps back. “But, please, be careful.”

“I always am, darling.” Rafe flashes her a smile, placing a kiss to her lips before heading off in search of his business partner.

Charlie turns her attention to a table towards the back of the ballroom. Seated amongst two beautiful women half his age is her former associate, Mauricio. But he’s not who her eyes are drawn to.

Her gaze lingers on the older, grey-haired gentleman readjusting his bow tie in the background.

Victor Sullivan.

Deciding to keep an eye on the man, she heads over to her friend and his companions. “Rico!,” Charlie calls out as she saunters over.

“Ms. Berger!,” the older man calls out as he stands. “How long has it been now? Three? Four years?”

“Two,” she corrects him. “I see some things never change, though,” Charlie nods towards the women perched watching them.

“You know beautiful women are drawn to me. Speaking of which, querida, you’re looking ravishing as ever.” Mauricio plants a kiss on her hand, causing her to roll her eyes.

“I’m afraid I��m taken, my dear. Though, I must say, I would prefer to be living the high life in Porto right about now.”

Charlie can’t help but have her attention drift over the man’s shoulder to Victor, noticing that Nadine has now joined him. Feeling uneasy, she begins to dig in her clutch for her phone, trying to pay attention to both Mauricio and the situation developing behind him.

Noticing her distracted state, her friend turns around to see what’s taken the focus off of himself and the tale he’s begun to tell. “Victor Sullivan is here? I thought that man retired.”

“So did I. Have you heard anything about what’s brought him out tonight? What have people been saying?”

Charlie’s voice sounds crazed and she knows she sounds way more frenzied than the situation calls for, but deep in her gut she knows Samuel Drake is involved in this somehow.

She’s never trusted the man, but Rafe has always assured her that he’s dependable and that with his knowledge of Avery and other pirates, he’s closer to finding the treasure than he ever was before. That somehow their time spent in a Panamanian jail together has bonded them.

Charlie knows that’s bullshit. There’s no honor amongst thieves and Rafe would be naive to believe otherwise.

“Isn’t that your partner, Charlene?”

She nods, allowing her green eyes to follow said partner’s every move. Rafe has joined the pair now and Charlie knows that this is headed nowhere good and fast. His demeanor appears to be jovial and confident, but Charlie understands Rafe well enough now to know that underneath it all he’s seething.

“What a trio.” Mauricio lets out a low whistle before turning his attention back to her. “How do you think the general public would feel if they knew the golden boy of the Adler empire was associated with thieves and black market dealers?”

“I think they would be pretty stupid to assume that a billionaire with actual morals exists,” she says with a shrug. “But, if they haven’t found out about my past yet, I doubt they’ll ever find out about his criminal inclinations.”

“They don’t -,” Mauricio goes to say but is interrupted by a voice announcing that soon bidding would begin for the crucifix from the Trott Estate. Charlie knows Rafe paid quite the pretty penny for the auctioneer to bring it out first.

“I should probably go grab Rafe,” Charlie nods at her partner who looks less than pleased now. “He’s been quite eager to get his hands on that cross for some time now.”

“Ah, I didn’t take him for a fan of religious imagery.”

“He’s full of surprises,” she says with a soft smile. “But, hey, maybe I can introduce you two before we leave?”

Mauricio’s hazel eyes glow warmly as he beams at her. “You know I can’t turn down an opportunity like that.”

“And I bet you thought I was just going to keep him all to myself,” Charlie jokes as she goes to plant a parting kiss on her friend’s cheek. “What kind of person would I -”

“Cut the bullshit, old man.”

Charlie immediately jumps at the sound of a glass crashing to the ballroom floor. Of course, during the brief moment she’s distracted Rafe decides to get into a very public spat with Victor.

“I should go,” she gives Mauricio a remorseful frown, “before he makes an even bigger scene.”

Hiking up her dress, Charlie shoves her way through the crowd until she finds Rafe. Straightening out his white suit jacket, he tries to recompose himself.

“What happened here?,” she whispers, fingers going to adjust his bow tie. Despite his outside appearance seeming cool, calm, and collected, Charlie can feel his heart thrumming in double time.

“Somethings not right.” Rafe shakes his head as he looks down at her, green eyes boring into her own. “Victor Sullivan is here somehow. I swear to God, Charlie if he tries to take-”

“He won’t,” she interrupts him. “Tonight is your night, baby. Don’t let him get to you.”

“It’s just,” he throws his head back with a sigh. “You don’t know what he and the Drake’s are capable of.”

“You’re right, I don’t.” Charlie puts her hands on his shoulders, standing up on her tip-toes. “But I know what you’re capable of,” she says, placing her lips to his for a soft kiss.

“Just think,” she says as she pulls away, “the crucifix will be yours in oh, I don’t know,” she hums, “twenty minutes?”

“I hope you’re right about that.”

Charlie beams at him. “I’m always right.”

She takes note of how the fluorescents hit her partner just right, making him look more handsome than usual tonight. “And maybe we can celebrate on the ride home?,” she asks, running her palm down his chest.

Rafe’s eyes darken as he leans down to whisper in her ear, nosing stray hair out of the way. “I think we can do more than just celebrate.”

Charlie lets out a low whine, having to bite her lip to stifle the sound. “Well, that’s what I’ll be thinking about while you’re winning us a six digit cross.” She pouts up at him. “Too bad you pushed the bidding to the beginning of the night.”

Emitting a low groan, he cups her face in her hand. “Like you said, this should only take twenty minutes or so. Do you think you can be a good girl for that long?”

Charlie knows she can’t, but she nods “yes” anyway.

“Bidding for a crucifix from the Trott Estate will begin in five minutes.”

The voice of the female announcer over the speaker interrupts the little moment they were having. “This is what you’ve been waiting all these years for,” Charlie says as she pulls away. “I’ll be waiting for you back at the table.”

“You sure you don’t want to come watch?”

“In these heels? No, thank you. Besides,” she shrugs, “I could go for a drink.”

“I’ll come find you afterwards, alright?”

Charlie agrees, letting Rafe place a quick peck to her cheek before making her way over to the bar. After pushing through throngs of designer-clad women and men, she finally makes it to her destination.

“Un bicchiere de vino bianco, per favore,” she says, taking a seat at the bar. She can hear the start of the auction echoing throughout the room and she hopes that this is the beginning of the end of her partner’s adventure hunting. But there’s a feeling inside of her; one that makes her blood run cold, that tells her it may never truly end.

“Bene! We have one hundred thousand euros in the room. Thank you. Do we have any other bids? We now have one hundred ten thousand euros in the room.”

Giving a quick thanks to the bartender as he hands her her glass, she turns to face the stage. Charlie can hear the back and forth of Rafe and Victor beginning to haggle over the St. Dismas cross.

Why the fuck is he getting involved? she thinks. Surely he can’t afford however high of a price Rafe will take this up to to ensure it’s his.

She watches anxiously as the older man keeps on bidding after bidding. No matter what price Rafe gives, Sullivan seems to want to take it one step further. It’s infuriating and she’s annoyed on her partner’s behalf. If there was any hope of them having a good time after they left the estate, all those dreams were just dashed.

“Five hundred thousand! Let’s get this show on the road here.” Rafe is clearly agitated and anxious and Charlie is sure it’s apparent to everyone else in the room.

“Oh… thank you. We have five hundred thousand euros in the room.”

“Had me worried there for a minute, Victor. Thought I might have to kill you!”

She cringes at the threat. Rafe and the others in the room may be chuckling along, but Charlie knows that that was no joke, he would kill anyone to acquire that cross.

Within seconds the lights in the room go off, sounds of screams and shouts reverberate throughout the ballroom. She hears Rafe yelling for security to stop someone, whom she assumes to be Sullivan, from leaving.

Swiveling around in her seat, she motions to the bartender for a second glass of wine; she’s going to need it if she wants to make it through the rest of the night with her sanity fully intact.

As Charlie searches through her clutch for spare euros, she hears the familiar footsteps of Rafe angrily approaching. “Where have you been?,” he hisses in her ear.

“Trying to give you some space to cool down,” she says as she turns around to face him, fresh drink in hand.

“I don’t think I’m going to be ‘cooling down’ anytime soon, honey.” Rafe runs a shaky hand through his hair; his jaw clenched. Charlie can tell how anxious he is right now and it breaks her heart. Despite wishing that he could focus on anything but the treasure, she knows how desperately he’s longed for this.

Taking a final sip of her drink, she places the half-full glass on the countertop before hopping off the stool. Noticing that the guards are trying to keep everyone in the main building while the estate is operating only on generators, a plan begins to formulate in her mind.

“Come with me.” Charlie grabs both of Rafe’s hands in hers as she begins to pull him towards an unguarded doorway. “I think I might know of a way to help you relax.”

“Charlie…”

“What?,” she asks, daring a glance back at him. His green eyes look back at her, giving her a hungry look. “You sure look like you want this.”

She stops at the door, pulling him into her as she leans against it. Taking a quick scan of the crowd, she can see that they’re too occupied with trying to make their way en masse to other parts of the property; pushing past the security guards trying to contain them. She can also hear gunfire in the background, assuring her that no one will catch them anytime soon.

Reaching behind her, Charlie grasps the cool brass of the doorknob, pushing the door open to slip the both of them inside. After doing a quick check of the room to make sure it’s secure, Rafe pushes her against a beam in the middle of the room.

“Looks like we have all the time in the world,” she whispers, watching as her partner’s slender fingers run up the length of her side.

Rafe begins to delicately bunch up the velvet material around her waist before making quick work of her panties. “Maybe by the time I’m done having my way with you,” he purrs in her ear, “the guards will have done their job and retrieved my crucifix.”

Charlie mewls as his thumb begins to stroke slow circles on her clit. Reaching up to grab onto the lapel of his white suit jacket, she pulls him down into a kiss. Rafe’s soft lips slide hungrily against hers; his tongue teasing its way past her lips.

Her hands trail up from his shoulders, gripping and pulling at strands of hair as his lips begin to leave bruising kisses down her jaw to her neck.

“Can we not talk about treasure or crosses right now?,” Charlie pants out. “Gold can’t fuck you and it certainly can’t love you.” She can’t help the bitter undertone to her voice. She’s trying to help him forget about his friend double crossing him, but the treasure always clouds his mind.

Rafe tsks. “Oh, my poor baby,” he says huskily, placing a nip to her pulse point. “Are you jealous?” His fingers slide from her clit to down between her thighs. “You know you’re my most prized treasure.”

Charlie cries out, bucking into his hand as two fingers are slowly inserted inside of her. “Always so wet for me.”

Her legs begin to shake as his fingers curl inside of her. Feeling as if she might lose her balance, she wraps her arms around the support beam behind her back.

Damn him, she thinks. Rafe always knows how to read her; knows what makes her tick and what makes her see red. But, Charlie can’t be mad, not when she can feel the heat begin to coil within her belly due to the steady pumping of his fingers.

“Please don’t stop,” she breathes. “I’m so close.”

Rafe presses himself against her thigh, fingers picking up speed. She can feel him hardening against her, that alone bringing her closer to the edge.

For a brief moment, Charlie forgets that there are others outside as her moans become louder and begin to echo throughout the room.

“Sssh.” Rafe nuzzles into her ear. “As sexy as you sound and,” he glances down at her chest, heaving and barely contained to her strapless dress, “as sexy as you look. We don’t need anyone else hearing you, now do we?”

She can barely respond except for shamelessly moaning even louder, her walls beginning to tighten around his fingers.

“Rafe…”

“Cum for me, sweetheart.”

Charlie rolls her head back onto the beam, nails digging into the wood. With a cry, Charlie comes; her body trembling.

Closing her eyes, she tries to catch her breath, but there’s barely a chance to as Rafe eagerly kisses her, his hands going to cup her breasts.

“God, look at you.” His voice is hoarse and husky, his green eyes blown. “So fucking perfect.” Pulling away he brings his fingers to his lips, wetting them with his tongue. “Always so sweet too.”

Charlie squeezes her thighs together, feeling herself getting turned on again from the sight. Reaching forward, she pulls Rafe back to her by his belt; fingers eagerly beginning to unbuckle it immediately.

“You have no idea how badly I want you inside of me right now,” she purrs as she brings her lips to his for a heated kiss.

Rafe groans against her lips as he brings his hands to the back of her dress, tugging on the zipper.

“Hey! Be careful with that,” she whines.

“It’s just a dress, darling. We can get you another one.” He carefully peels off the tape that had held her dress up, leaning down to take a newly freed nipple into his mouth.

“But I,” Charlie gasps as Rafe wraps an arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him, “liked that dress.”

He ignores her complaints, swirling his tongue around her pebbled nipple. Green eyes peer up at her as he gives a light bite.

“Please, Rafe. No more teasing.” Charlie knows she sounds whiny right now, but she’s aching to feel him and he knows it.

She can feel him smile against her chest before standing up fully. “Always with the neediness,” he teases, pulling her towards a crate in the back of the room. “Lucky for you, I love it.”

Charlie kicks her dress away before following after him. “Am I going to be the only one who’s naked here?,” she asks as he lifts her onto the wooden crate. Besides her heels, she’s completely naked, whereas Rafe has remained completely clothed.

He just shrugs at her. “Undress me then, sweetheart.”

Grabbing at his waistband, she begins to slowly undo his dress pants. Once she sees the bulge in his boxer briefs Charlie realizes just how impatient she truly is. As gorgeous as his body is, he looks just as good with clothes on and he looks even better when he’s pounding into her with them on.

“Oh, fuck it.” She slides her hand down the elastic, beginning to stroke him. Grinning at the hiss Rafe lets out at the sensation, Charlie leans up to hungrily kiss him, tongue and teeth clashing against each other.

“Just fuck me, Rafe. But I swear,” she whispers, “if one of those guards comes in here and finds me naked, I’ll be forced to kill them.”

“Don’t worry,” he says, freeing himself from his briefs and replacing her hand. “If anyone looks at you I’ll kill them myself.”

Charlie beams at him. If it was anyone else in her past she wouldn’t have been into that subtle possessiveness, but with Rafe it’s just another one of his traits that turns her on.

She bites her lip, watching as he begins to stroke himself before lining himself up at her entrance. Wrapping her leg around his waist, he slides himself inside, soft moans falling from both their lips.

Rafe starts slowly rocking himself into her, their foreheads pressed together. “You have to stay quiet this time, understood?”

“I can be a good girl for you, Rafe.”

“Oh, I know you can,” he pants out. “You’re my best girl.”

Charlie mewls at his words, laying herself back on the crate, the wood digging into her skin. She’s sure she’s getting splinters all over her back right now, but the pain is worth it for the look Rafe shoots her; like he wants to devour her.

Her hand slides in between them to rub her clit as he lifts her leg up over his shoulder. “I swear, Charlie,” he groans, his thrusts beginning to pick up a more brutal pace. “I’m going to destroy all of them for ruining this night.”

Charlie shudders, a second wave of pleasure beginning to build up. “Harder, baby,” she whines, trying to pull him in even closer.

“Harder, you say?” He begins to pound into her now, the crate creaking underneath her from the movement.

The combination of her own digits and Rafe’s movements brings her closer to the edge. She feels a hand trail down her body before cupping a breast, pinching a nipple between his fingers.

“My perfect girl.”

That’s all it takes for Charlie to cry out, her back arching off the crate. Rafe groans as she clenches around him; nails digging into her thighs. Leaning down, he kisses her through her come down.

“Fuck, that felt so good,” he purrs into her ear, placing a light nibble to the lobe before pulling them both up again.

Charlie snakes her arms around his shoulders as he begins to bounce her on his cock. “Now it’s your turn to cum for me, baby,” she says before beginning to suck and bite at his neck. She doesn’t care if all these stuffy assholes see him with a mark from her. If anything, it might make her feel proud.

“Charlie…,” he moans, his lip slightly curling. Rafe’s movements start to become erratic, so much so that Charlie has to reach a hand behind her to hold the crate still.

After a few more deep thrusts, his body stills. Cupping her cheeks, he forces her to look up at him. “I guess now is as good of a time as any to start a family.”

Charlie smiles weakly through her panting. “You sure about this?”

Rafe nods as he pulls out, looking for something to clean them up with. “You really think I’m just going to give up because Samuel managed to get one over on me?” He gives her a look before grabbing a waiter’s cloth and heading back to her.

“Not at all,” she says, watching as he cleans up his seed running down her thigh. “Just surprised you think this will be over soon.”

Charlie hops off the crate, heading towards her discarded dress lying crumpled at the bottom of the beam. Shaking it out, she steps into it, frowning as her breasts try to break free from her attempted confinement.

“Nadine and I have been searching tirelessly through the cathedral for a while now. Her shoreliners are getting close to finding what Avery hid there.” Rafe grabs a bottle of wine before making his way towards her. “Once we find that? We’ll be untouchable.”

Charlie’s hand rests on her belly. She doesn’t want to get her hopes up too soon about Rafe finally having a hold of the treasure he’s waited fifteen years for, but the thought of them finally being the “boring” couple, despite their pasts, that she’s wanted? It’s too good to be true.

“I can’t believe I’m about to say this,” she lets out a laugh, “but I’m excited to get back to Scotland so we can dig through some relics.”

“You wanna help me?” Rafe pulls her close to him, wrapping his arms around her waist.

Charlie hums. “Well, we’re a team too. It’s not just you and Nadine.”

Rafe chuckles. “You’re right, you’re right.” Casting his gaze downwards he notices the way her gown begins to slip down. Taking off his suit jacket he throws it over her shoulders, handing her the bottle to hide underneath it.

“I suppose I’ll have to get you a new one.”

“If we’re lucky, I won’t even be able to fit in one in a few months.”

Charlie stills. It’s absolutely quiet outside of the storage room except for some light chatter from who she presumes to be staff and security guards.

“We should probably get going,” she smiles impishly up at Rafe.

“After you, my dear.”

#oc: charlie berger #rafe adler #ship: for all the gold in the world #rafe adler x oc #uncharted 4 fic #kinktober #nsft #nervous about this one so be nice pls!!!

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banditoxkenshin · 3 years ago

Text

Chapter Seven- Regret

Camila woke up next to her brother and saw Elena tending to his wounds, listening to Nate talking.

“And everything changed after that. Y’know, we became… explorers. Adventurers. Mostly thieves. Ow.”

“Okay, hold still.” Elena whispered.

“You know, for a while it felt like… if we weren’t taking turns going to jail… it was because we were in jail together. And… after I lost him, I-- Or, after I thought… I lost him--”

“You didn’t want to bring him back up again.”

“Something like that. Well, that’s it. Now you know everything.”

“With you, I doubt that that’s everything. But… it’s a lot.”

“Love to know what you’re thinking.”

“’m thinking that you’re lucky that I found you when I did.”

“Yeah.”

“How did you find us, anyway?”

“Oh you know, easy. Just follow the sound of gunfire.”

“Yeah. No, I mean, how did you get here…?” There was the sound of airplane engines overhead. “Oh… of course.”

Elena put the radio up to her mouth as she spoke, “Come in, Sully.”

“Hey, darlin’. How’re they doing?”

“Oh, you know, they’re banged up, but they’re alive. Par for the course. I’m going to make sure Camila is okay. Now we just need to rescue the other Drake.”

“What do you mean?

“I’ll let Nate and Cam tell you.” She handed Nate the radio.

“Hey, pal. Glad you could join us.”

“Yeah, wouldn’t miss it. So what happened to Sam?”

“Rafe’s got him.”

“Shit. You know where they are?”

“Yeah. They’re headed to the northern side of the island. See if you can find a place to set down over there. Once we get Sam, we’re going to need to get outta here pretty quick.”

“Copy that. Hey, hey-- What about the treasure?”

“Forget it. We don’t need it.”

“But what about Alcazar?”

“It’s all bullshit.”

When Nate said that, he eyed Camila for a moment.

“Wait. You mean… the debt, the… the escape?”

“Yeah. Sam made it all up. What an asshole, right. Look, I’ll fill you in on everything when I see you.”

“Yeah. I can’t wait. Look, you three be safe down there.”

“Trade ya.” Elena told Nate as she handed him a gun.

Elena came over to Camila and knelt down next to her.

“Hey girly. How are you doing?” She asked, placing a gentle hand on her belly.

“I’m okay. Bruised, but I'm alive.”

Elena helped Camila stand up as Nate rested his hand on his sister’s lower back.

“Is the baby going to be okay? You took a heavy fall.”

“If they’re a Drake, they can survive anything.”

Nate laughed a bit as the three made their way towards New Devon.

“How far along are you?” Elena asked, looking at Cami.

“Almost three months.”

“Congratulations. Nate and I will be very excited to babysit your child.”

Nate chuckled softly and looked at his wife before looking at his twin.

“What are you hoping for?” He asked her.

“A boy. But I just want the baby to be healthy.”

The three made their way to New Devon, and Camila trailed behind while Nate and Elena discussed their relationship. Things weren’t going too well right now, and Cami wanted to give them space. The three got into the Jeep, and Camila closed her eyes, glad to give her legs a break from walking so much. She had fallen asleep rather quickly, and when she woke up, Nate was working on trying to fix the water wheel for an ancient elevator.

“Are you hungry? I have some granola bars.” Elena offered.

Camila’s stomach growled in response as she took a granola bar. “Yeah, I’m eating for two after all.”

She began to munch on the granola bar as Nate got the water wheel working. However, when he did that, Shoreline mercenaries showed up. They began shooting at the Jeep, and Camila took cover, but she fired her pistol blindly at the Shoreline Jeeps. The elevator started ascending as Elena and Cami continued shooting Shoreline soldiers. A bullet grazed Camila’s shoulder, causing her to yelp in pain and grit her teeth together.

Eventually, the shooting stopped and Nate climbed into the elevator. Elena was tending to Camila’s arm as Nate rushed over.

“Everything okay??” Nate asked, looking at his sister worriedly.

“Bullet grazed me, but I'm okay.”

The three made their way through more elevators, and soon they arrived at New Devon. There were soldiers patrolling the area, and Camila had an idea.

“What if I turn myself in?” She looked at Nate.

“What? No!” Her twin’s eyes widened.

“It’ll get those mercenaries off of you.”

“There are a lot of soldiers, Nate...” Elena sighed softly.

“No, Elena. They’ll probably kill her!!”

“They won’t. They know Rafe will kill anyone who touches me in a way he doesn’t like.”

“True... Fine, but be careful, and keep an eye on Sam.”

Camila nodded and made her way down before she dove into the water, turning the soldiers’ attention towards her. She surfaced as the guards pointed their guns towards her.

“Don’t shoot!” A soldier commanded as Camila swam towards the mercenaries.

She got pulled out of the water and thrown to the ground.

“You sure give us a hard time.” The soldier snarled before calling for Rafe through the radio. “We found her.”

Camila was pulled to her feet as they pushed her towards her husband and her brother.

“Cami!” Sam called as he went towards her before a guard hit him with the butt of his gun.

Camila caught her brother as he fell and held onto him tightly.

“I thought you were dead,” Sam whispered, holding his sister.

“That’s payback for Panama.” Camila joked.

Sam chuckled and pulled back to look at his sister.

“How is he?” She asked.

“He was hysterical.”

Camila’s eyes glanced over her brother’s shoulder as Rafe made his way towards the Drake siblings.

“Camila!”

“Rafael.”

Camila slowly walked towards her husband, and he reached for her but stopped short when his wife flinched away from him. Rafe felt his stomach twist as his eyebrows twitched a little bit. Camila took a breath as she gently cupped her husband’s face in her hands.

“Look what I did to you...” he whispered, looking at the bruise on her cheek.

“I forgive you.”

Rafe closed his eyes as a tear slipped down his cheek, “I shouldn't have hit you. I’m so sorry.”

“I forgive you Rafael.”

His eyes opened, and he looked at her with a soft smile. He swallowed a bit and held the ring up, a hopeful glimpse in his eyes. She offered her hand, and Rafe gently slid the ring back onto her finger.

“You’re too good for me, Cam.”

“Yeah, she is.” Sam sent Rafe a side glance.

Rafe narrowed his eyes at Sam before Camila pulled away from her husband.

“Let’s just find the treasure.”

~ᴛɪᴍᴇ ꜱᴋɪᴘ ʙᴇᴄᴀᴜꜱᴇ ɪ’ᴍ ʟᴀᴢʏ~

The group had arrived at a ship graveyard, and Camila was looking at a small golden coin she found lying around. Rafe came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, pressing a soft kiss to the bruise on her cheek. He nuzzled his nose against her cheek and closed his eyes.

“Your brothers cause me a lot of trouble,” he told her.

“I know.”

Camila smiled softly and looked over at her husband. Rafe put his hands on her baby bump and gently kissed her cheek again.

“How are you doing, love?” Rafe asked her, nuzzling his cheek against hers.

“I’m aching, but I'm more concerned for our child.”

Rafe’s eyes widened as he looked at the small bump. “Do you feel movement? Is everything okay?”

“I’m sure they’ll be okay.”

“I’ll make it up to you with this treasure. I promise.”

~ᴀɴᴏᴛʜᴇʀ ᴛɪᴍᴇ ꜱᴋɪᴘ ʙᴇᴄᴀᴜꜱᴇ ɪ'ᴍ ʟᴀᴢʏ~

Camila stood next to Rafe as Nadine and Rafe started arguing with each other.

“Sam just stole our goddamn boat. He’s headed for Avery’s ship. Come on.”

“Let him. We’re done.”

“We’re done?” Rafe raised an eyebrow.

“Most of my men are dead, Rafe. And those who aren’t have already left.”

“Can you see that? The end is literally in sight.” He pointed towards the ship looming behind him.

“That maniac pirate of yours has rigged this entire cave. I’m not setting foot on his ship.”

Rafe took a step closer to Nadine, “Nadine. If you cut and run right now, the loss of all your men -- everything that we’ve done -- is for nothing.”

“We have millions in gold right here. I’d say that plus our lives is something. You have your wife and a baby on the way.”

Rafe shook his head and chuckled a bit. “We’re on the verge… of making history here, and you’re willing to just walk off with a pittance a fraction of what Sam’s gonna get from that boat.”

“If he can walk away from that ship alive… he can have it. Hell, I’d say he’s earned it. God knows you didn’t.”

Rafe bared his teeth and slapped Nadine. “Now, look… We can stand here and insult each other all day… or we can finish what it is that we--”

Nadine straightened up and punched Rafe, “ Oh, we’re finishing it all right--”

The mercenary on Camila’s right pointed his gun at Nadine. “Sorry ma’am.”

Rafe rubbed his jaw. “Yeah… Thing about mercenaries, Nadine… their loyalty, it’s bought… it’s not earned. Now, come on. Either we finish this thing together… or we can just end it right here.”

“Let’s go make history.” Nadine looked at Rafe.

The group got into the small boat and began going towards the pirate ship. They climbed onto the ship, and Rafe and Cami went below deck. She found Sam looking at some gold, and she ran up to him and hugged him. Sam jumped, but he relaxed and turned to hug his sister.

Rafe stepped into the room and glared at Sam.

“You took everything from me.” Rafe snarled.

“Rafe, you did this to yourself.”

Cami felt Sam’s grip tighten around her body as he kept his eyes on Rafe.

“Give me my wife.”

Sam narrowed his eyes. “After the way you hit her? No.”

“Samuel. Give me. My wife.”

“It’s okay, Big Brother.” Cami whispered.

Sam let go of her, and she went to Rafe’s side, who wrapped his arm around her waist and pressed a kiss to her head. Before she could react, an explosion rocked the ship, and a wooden pillar fell on top of Sam, pinning him between the floor and the pillar.

“Sam!”

She rushed towards her brother and tried to pull the pillar off of him. Rafe stepped out of the room, leaving the Drake siblings alone.

“Sam, you’re going to be fine. We’ll get you out of here.” Camila told her brother as she fruitlessly tried to pull the pillar up.

“Cami... Cami, wait.”

Camila looked at her brother.

“Do you love him?” He asked softly.

“Yes, with all of my heart.”

Sam gave her a soft smile and nodded. “He’s insane.”

“I know.” Cami laughed.

Nate found them a few minutes later, “Sam!” He rushed towards them and tried to pull the pillar up with Camila.

“Relax, he’s alive. Y’know, this idiot nearly got us all killed.” Rafe stepped into the room and coughed as smoke and ashes filled the room. He pointed his gun at Nate.

“I’m getting him outta here.” Nate replied, raising his hands in surrender.

“No…. you’re not.”

“Rafe, you can have the treasure, all right? Just let me save my brother.”

Rafe threw his head back into a laugh, “After everything he’s done…? How noble of you… but no.”

“We stay here any longer and we’re all dead. Is that what you want?”

“That’s not what I said. What do you think, Nadine?” Rafe coughed again as Nadine stepped into the room, pointing her gun at Nate. “Good to see you up and about. Be a dear and relieve Nate there of his gun?”

Nadine motioned with her pistol, “Hand it over.”

Nate took a step in front of Camila, but he gave his gun to Nadine. “You really think you can trust him? Huh?”

“Not your concern.” She snapped.

“Now, why are you trying to instigate? Nate, Nadine and I are partners… I don’t screw over my partners. Get over there. You and your brother, though… Right from the start, you took advantage of my generosity. You tried to cut me out and it’s high time you learned--”

Nadine pointed her gun at Rafe, causing Camila to gently grab her twin’s arm.

“What are you doing?” Rafe asked.

“Now you give me your gun.” Nadine remarked.

“Nadine...”

“I won’t ask you again.”

“You are being… profoundly stupid right now.”

“Look over there.”

“Nadine, stop screwing around--” a gunshot cut through the air, causing Rafe to flinch, “--Jesus!”

“I said look!”

“Okay, it’s a couple of skeletons. So what?”

“I don’t know as much about history as you boys… but I’ve got a pretty good idea who those two are.”

“Well, enlighten us.”

“It’s Avery and Tew. They killed each other.” Nate interjected, slowly pushing his arm out to further protect Camila.

“Good for them. What’s the point?” Rafe tilted his head.

“Everyone obsessed with this treasure… gets what they deserve.” Nadine continued.

“So what, you’re just leaving us here to die, Nadine?” Nate asked.

“Oh, I’m just leaving. Whether you die or not, I don’t really care.”

“Nadine… wait--!”

“So long, Rafe.”

Nadine stepped out of the room and shut the door.

“Nadine! Nadine! You open this goddamn door right now!”

“Rafe, she‘s gone! C’mon, give me a hand; we’ll all get out of here.” Nate motioned with his hand toward Sam.

“Oh, no… No, that won’t work.”

“C’mon, help me with Sam and I’ll help you open the door.”

“No, I’m not going to be able to enjoy… one of these coins…” Rafe picked up a sword.

“God… damn it…” Nate groaned.

“…knowing that you and your worthless brother are still sucking air.”

“All right, just… just calm down. You can practice your fencing when we get outside.”

Camila’s eyes widened as she watched her husband. “Rafael.”

He locked eyes with Camila and twirled the sword in his hand. His attention was pulled back to Nate.

“Seriously, Rafe… this is insane, even for you,” Nate stated.

“You want to hear insane? ‘Nathan Drake raced a madman and his entire army to the steps of Shambhala.’” Rafe swung his sword, causing Nate and Cami to jump back in unison.

“Rafe please!” Cami whimpered.

“Nathan Drake found a lost city in the middle of the Rub’ al Khali desert.” Rafe swung his sword again, causing the two twins to duck and go in separate directions.

Camila realized he was only going for Nate.

“Nathan Drake discovered the fabled El Dorado…” Rafe snarled.

“Nathan Drake is a legend.” He laughed. “You know, I shoot the man who told me that.

Camila put her hand on Rafe’s arm, and he instinctively elbowed backwards, sending his wife to the ground. She grunted and held her stomach. Rafe turned around, and Camila stared up at the man in front of her.

Nate picked up a sword, “Look I get it, you don’t like me very much.”

Rafe turned around to address Camila’s twin brother.

“You no, for all your “greatness,” Nate, you have nothing. You are nothing. And I warned you to get out of my way.” He swung his sword, and the two blades connected. “I have sacrificed everything to find Avery. And I’m not gonna let a couple of two-bit thieves… a senile con man… and a washed-up journalist take that away from me!”

“Enough!”

“You care… about that parade of losers so much… I’m going to make sure they join you.”

Nate narrowed his eyes and looked at Camila. “Can I?”

Cami nodded, as Nate sucked in a breath, looking at Rafe. “En garde (On guard), dickhead.”

“That’s the spirit. Come on, Nate. Hold… still! C’mon, quit prolonging the inevitable. My arm’s getting tired. Now we’re getting somewhere.”

“The hell’s wrong with you?”

The two swords connected again, and Rafe pushed his blade towards Nate’s body.

“This… might hurt a little.”

“Get off Rafe!”

Nate kicked Rafe in the stomach as Camila crawled backwards to regain her strength.

“C’mon, “legend”. Yeah! Come on, Nate. Come on! Yeah! Now that’s the Nathan Drake I hear so much about. All right, all right.”

“We’re done here. I’m taking my brother, my twin, and we’re leaving. You want to stay and burn with this ship, you be my guest.”

Rafe and Nate collided swords, but Rafe managed to knock Nate’s sword to the side, the sword colliding with the wooden floor. Rafe pointed his sword at Nate and smirked triumphantly.

“You got me. You know what, Nate? Underneath all the bravado you’re just a sad little boy… with delusions-- of grandeur… who, by the way, can’t fence for shit. So long, Nathan Drake.”

“Nathan!” Sam called as he threw a sword at his younger brother.

“You don’t know when to give up, do you? That’s good. Don’t hand it to me. I’ve had everything handed to me… on a goddamn silver platter. Everything except this and Camila! I earned this. All of it.”

“You want the treasure, Rafe? It’s all yours.” Nate swung his sword, releasing a huge net of treasure.

“RAFE!” Camila charged forward and pushed Rafe out of the way as the treasure collided into the floor.

Rafe looked up at Camila as his eyes instantly softened.

“Cami... I’m so sorry.”

She shook her head and went to help her brothers. She felt herself starting to choke on the smoke, and she and Nate tried to pull the wooden pillar up.

“Holy shit. Hey, c’mon. Let’s get you out of here.” Nate breathed out.

“I’m trying… It’s too heavy.” Sam gasped.

“Just try again, Sam. Cami replied.

“It’s no use.”

“Try again! Agh-- c’mon!” Nate strained to pull the pillar.

“Nathan, Camila--”

“God-- damn it!” Nate grit his teeth.

“Listen to me! Listen to me! All I ever wanted to do… was find this treasure with you two.”

“Sam, no, shut up.” Cami looked at her brother.

“Hey, we did It. We did it, little brother. Okay? It’s all right.”

“No, there’s gotta be another way--”

“Nathan, Camila. You gotta go.”

Camila coughed hoarsely as Nate spoke again, “No, no, there’s gotta be something--”

“You gotta go!” Sam urged.

“There’s something--”

“There is no other way! C’mon, you two. I gotta know you made it out all right!”

“No...” Camila started crying silently at the thought of losing her brother.

“Camila, the whole place is about to blow up!”

“That’s it!” Nate chimed in.

“What the hell are you doing?” Sam asked.

Nate pushed a cannon and aimed it at the wall of the ship.

“Just trust me.”

“God damn it.”

“Just get your head down!”

Camila braced herself next to her brother.

“Oh shit...” Sam whispered.

Nate blew the plank off with the cannon as water started flooding the ship.

“Do it now. C’mon. Go! Go!” Nate said as he used the water to start pulling the pillar up. “Alright--”

“You are one crazy son of a bitch.” Sam chuckled.

“Takes one to know one. C’mon.”

Camila went over to her husband who was looking at her in guilt and pain. The water was up to her chest already.

“Camila, let’s go.” Sam called.

“Cami... go without me.” Rafe whispered.

She gently cupped Rafe’s face in her hands, and the male leaned into her touch.

“I’m not leaving you.” Cami told him.

“I’ve hurt you twice. I’m not fit to be a father. I’m never going to-”

Camila pulled him in for a kiss, and he wrapped his arms around Cami’s waist. She pulled away as Rafe furrowed his brow.

“Camila...”

“You’re not perfect, but I love you. This baby needs its dad.”

Rafe looked down at her baby bump. “You’re right.”

The water went over their heads, and the four of them started swimming out of the ship. The cave started collapsing as they all frantically swam. Some large rocks knocked into Camila, forcing the girl underwater. Another rock knocked her in the head, knocking her out. Rafe and Nate had made it to land, but Sam and Camila hadn’t surfaced.

“Camila?!”

“Sam!!”

Sam surfaced with Camila on his back, and he gently pulled her to shore. Rafe rushed forward and checked for a pulse.

“No no no!” Rafe frantically began performing CPR on his wife. “Cami come on!”

Sam and Nate were right by Rafe’s side.

“Come on Little Sister.” Sam whispered.

“Please, I need you.” Rafe begged as he continued.

Camila suddenly shot up, spitting out water and coughing. Rafe pulled his wife into his arms, holding her close. He closed his eyes and rested his head against hers.

“My hero...” Camila pressed a soft kiss to Rafe’s jaw.

“Nearly gave me a heart attack.” Rafe mumbled.

Elena and Sully watched Rafe with caution as the four of them stood up. Camila leaned against Rafe for support.

“Hiya darlin’.” Sully said to Cami.

“Hi Sully.”

“Let’s go home.” Sam looked at all of them.

The group made their way towards Sully’s seaplane, and Rafe and Cami trailed behind so they could talk.

“I’m really sorry for everything, love. Truly, I am.” Rafe told her as the couple held hands and walked.

“I forgive you,” Cami replied, looking over at him.

“What? Just like that?”

“We made vows, Rafe. I intend to keep them.”

The couple had stopped.

“You’re something else.”

“I am a Drake.”

Rafe couldn’t help but let out a scoff. Camila took his other hand and held it.

“But I'm also an Adler.”

The male grinned and shook his head. “God, I love you.”

He pulled his wife in for a kiss and held her tightly. They pulled away.

“I love you too, Rafe.”

The couple then made their way towards the rest of the group.

CHAPTER EIGHT (FINAL CHAPTER)

Tags:

#uncharted #Treasure Hunter #travel #naughty dog #Elena Fisher #NathanDrake #Samuel Drake #videogame #victor sullivan #gaming #playstation #rafe adler x oc #rafe adler #rafeadler #imagine #fanfiction #fanfic

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vostara · 4 years ago

Text

love me like you hurt me - p.2

we make mistakes, we leave them by the door

pairing: Rafe Adler x Original Female Character x Samuel Drake

blurb: “But once, I think I loved you.”

word count: 14.9k+

title inspiration: I Run to You - MISSIO

The second (and final) part of the series. I’ve very much loved the process of writing this story and I adore Sabina and her interactions with Rafe and Sam. You can expect to see more of her in the future, since I have spin-off/sequel one-shots planned. I don’t know when they’ll be released, but they’re coming.

This work is cross-posted on Ao3.

01 | 02 ... series masterlist

February 2001

A month ago, Sabina packed her duffle bag and left Scotland on the first flight that she could book. She flew to England, then took a train to France. Swung her way through Switzerland, Italy, and Austria, before finding herself here.

Germany.

Sitting on a bench inside of a tiny museum, Sabina stares at the painting displayed on the wall. Before her is a sea of lavender. Plants are angled towards the right, leaning with an invisible breeze. In the center is a young woman, dressed in a high-collared white dress. And in her lap is a toddler, waving around a bundle of flowers.

From her peripheral vision, she watches as a man joins her on the bench. His hand twitches, and he reaches out for her, tempted to brush his fingers against her own. Instead, he drops his hands into his lap and turns to look at the painting.

“You found me,” Sabina says.

The man remains silent.

“How?”

“It’s not important,” he says.

Finally, she turns her head to look at him, turns to look at Rafe. “You paid someone.”

“Actually,” he shakes his head. “I asked Nate.”

“I didn’t tell him where I was going.”

“No, but he made a startlingly educated guess.”

Sabina hums. “I don’t suppose he came here with you, did he?”

“Nate left,” he sighs.

“Can’t say I’m surprised. I’m pretty sure he hates you.” She reaches for the ring on her finger, fiddling with the sapphire gemstone. “When did he leave?”

“About a week after you did.”

“So,” Sabina says, “there really is nothing at the cathedral, then?”

“We don’t know that for sure,” Rafe responds.

“We’ve spent weeks looking. Weeks digging holes, turning over every single pebble. There’s nothing there,” she says. “No clue. No treasure. No sign that anything associated with Avery has ever existed there.”

“There has to be something there.”

“But there isn’t,” Sabina directs her attention back to the painting. “Maybe it’s time to let it go. Let the treasure disappear into obscurity.”

“Why are you giving up?”

“Why would you care?” Sabina counters. “You’ve got the cathedral, all of the clues. If you find the treasure on your own, you get all of the profit. A hefty sum to add on top of your hefty inheritance.”

Rafe clenches a fist.

“Sam was the Avery expert,” she continues. “Without him and without Nate… I just don’t see the point in continuing. Their knowledge about this is leagues above my own. The truth is that I was probably just tagging along for the ride.”

“I am sorry, you know,” Rafe says, “about Sam. His… it wasn’t part of the plan.”

“It all feels surreal,” Sabina admits. “Like I’m wandering through a terrible dream. I feel like I’m going to wake up, any minute now, and he’ll be there to greet me with a horrible cup of coffee and stale croissants.”

“Were you two…”

“Together?”

Rafe averts his gaze to the tile floor.

“No,” she says. “Not quite. We were… complicated. He was never really good at commitment—neither of us were, really.” Sabina sighs, “Maybe it’s due to our similar upbringings. We both grew up without our parents. Stability is a luxury that we haven’t quite experienced yet.”

“What happened to them? Your parents?”

With a slight tilt of her head, Sabina mulls over her response. “When you spoke to Nate,” she says, “did he specify exactly where I would be in the museum?”

Rafe takes a moment to think. “He did, yeah.”

“The first time I came here, I was with Sam,” she says. “It was raining outside, so we popped in to escape from the cold. And when I saw it,” she nods her head towards the painting, “I couldn’t pull my eyes away. Sam joked that he would steal it for me one day. Though, knowing Sam, he was probably being serious.”

She stands and takes a few steps closer to the painting, her face glowing from the faintest hint of a smile. “Mother and Daughter Pick Flowers, such an original title. Artist: Jean-Jacques Pierre de la Sablonnière, a French painter. It was quite well-known that he hated men. In fact, he refused to paint them. Claimed that they were vile creatures. It is believed that when the Duke, Prince Louis Amilcar François d’Orléans, attempted to commission him for a painting, he laughed his face and danced on his way out of the villa. Of course, the Duke was upset, embarrassed. He stormed into his garden and shouted for his guards. And poor Monsieur de la Sablonnière was found dead, stabbed through the heart, just three days later.”

She turns around to look at Rafe, whom is still sitting on the bench. “I don’t remember my parents,” she says, walking back towards him. “I was a child when they died. Old enough to remember them, sure, but I can’t remember people if they barely had a presence in my life. What I do remember is this painting. A replica was hung in the living room, above a neglected fireplace full of dust. I wanted to be the little girl in the painting, to also have the joy of sitting in a sunny field, picking flowers with my mother. It’s a bit said, you know, that I don’t remember my mother’s face, but I remember my nanny.”

Sabina sits down on the bench, inches away from Rafe. “My parents were murdered,” she says. “After months of being away, they had finally come home. I was so happy. Even though I had grown out of bedtime stories, my father read one to me. And when he was finished, I begged him to read another and another. I think I was afraid that he would never read me one again. We stayed awake, long after my bedtime, but neither of us cared.

“My mother died first. We heard her screams, her pleas for help. Heard her begging the the intruders to stop. My father picked me up, carried me into his study, and hid me in a secret space beneath the floorboards.” Sabina unclasps the gold chain around her neck and places the medallion in Rafe’s hands. “He gave that to me. Told me to keep it safe, hidden. I don’t really remember what happened after that. Sometimes, in my nightmares, I recall the sound of a gunshot. Of papers being pushed, scattered. Cabinets crashing against the floor. I see blood seeping through the cracks in the floor. I feel it dripping down onto my face, onto my hands.”

Sabina exhales, releasing a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. “I don’t know who, specifically, killed them; they were never caught. But since then, I’ve spent an alarming amount of time running away from people who wish to murder me. Whatever my parents found, whatever that medallion is, it’s worth something. The boys and I speculate that it’s related to Avery’s treasure, but we’ve been unsuccessful with our attempts to solve the puzzle.”

“Sabina,” Rafe says, “let’s work together.”

“I don’t know,” she says, shrugging. “I don’t know if I can keep doing this.”

“Tell me,” Rafe looks down at the medallion, brushing his thumb over the etched symbols. “Do you still want to find Avery’s treasure?”

“Yes, but—”

“Then come with me.”

“I can’t—not without Sam—”

He reaches out towards Sabina and wraps his fingers around her hand. “You don’t need the Drakes, Sabina. You’re more intelligent than you think you are.”

“Why are you looking for this?” She asks. “What could you possibly gain? It can’t be the money, you already have that.”

“Curiosity,” he says. “Boredom, maybe.”

“Treasure hunting: an unusual cure for boredom.”

Rafe chuckles.

“I want to be equals,” Sabina says. “We split the treasure, fifty-fifty.”

“Hey, I’m the one footing the bill for—”

“Fifty-fifty. Take it, or I walk.”

“Deal,” Rafe says.

December 2015

A few years ago, Sabina figured out that life with Rafe is easier if she avoids the topic of Nathan Drake. Though her husband would never admit it, it was clear that feelings of rage, frustration, and jealousy were building up inside of him. He hated what Nate had accomplished on his own, hated what he had accomplished without him. And Nate’s current involvement with Avery’s treasure hasn’t helped. In fact, spending the past few weeks chasing after him had skyrocketed Rafe’s anger, making her husband almost unbearable to be around.

After Scotland, they followed Nate here, to Madagascar.

Drowning beneath the burning sunlight and stifling humidity, Sabina does her best to keep herself calm, composed. So far she has been successful in convincing Rafe and Nadine not to murder Nate at first sight, but as the promise of finding treasure draws closer, their patience is beginning to wan. Currently, the trio are driving in a jeep through one of the cities, providing a much appreciated gust of wind to cool down their sweaty bodies.

Rafe pulls his phone out of his pocket and dials a number. A few moments later, he laughs. “Here I am, I’m calling what I thought was Sullivan’s phone… and look who picks up,” he says. “How you been, Nate?”

Her ears perk up at the name.

“I wish,” Rafe chuckles. “That only would’ve cost me a few shots of rum, right? No, no, I had to pay top dollar to find you guys.”

Sabina frowns. Just how much money has Rafe invested into this not-so-friendly competition? He must be more on edge than she had assumed.

“…you pulled off some clever moves there,” he says. “But in the end, all that matters is who gets to Avery’s treasure first.”

A brief pause.

“Hey, Nate, you know I’m always game,” Rafe responds. “But my partner,” he turns his head slightly, to glance over at Nadine, “well, she prefers to… mitigate unnecessary risks.”

Sabina tenses and her eyes flicker over to Nadine, but she ignores her gaze.

“Look, Nate. I’m gonna make you a one-time offer here,” he continues. “You drop everything. Go home, live your life… and I’m willing to forgive and forget. For old time’s sake.”

Nadine looks over at the man, as he listens to Nate’s response.

“Okay,” Rafe shrugs. “‘Pro Deus quod licentia.’ For God and liberty.” He smiles, “These are nice pictures, Nate. Good composition.”

A feeling of dread punches Sabina in the stomach. She leans forward in her seat and grabs onto her husband’s shoulder.

“You stole my cross!” Rafe says. “Listen, Nate, if you’re half as smart as you think you are, you’ll accept my offer. What’s it going to be?”

“Rafe,” Sabina says, jostling his arm.

He ignores her.

“Well, Nate, one more thing—Nate!”

A pause.

“You… you do realize that your phones are equipped with GPS, right?” He asks. “I’ll see you soon, buddy.” He ends the call, finally turning to look at her. “What?”

“What did you do?” She asks.

“Honey, don’t worry about it.”

“Rafe—”

“This doesn’t concern you.”

“What is wrong with you?” Sabina yells. “This is—this is absolutely crazy!”

“Sabina,” Rafe says. “I need you to calm down.”

“Me?” She laughs. “You need me to calm down? Have you listened to yourself once in the past few weeks? Hell, the past few years? Everything is Drake this! Drake that! God, maybe you should’ve married him, huh? He’s all you ever talk about. Too bad you’re sending people to go fucking murder him!”

“I am not going to do this with you right now.”

“Is this why you hired Shoreline?” Sabina says. “So you could get rid of anyone that stands between you and that treasure?”

Rafe doesn’t respond.

“When this is over, I’m done.”

“Sabina—”

“No, I am sick of this. You aren’t the person I married. You aren’t even the person from five years ago.”

“Sabina—”

“Shut up,” she says. “Just… shut up.”

September 2001

Sabina fiddles with her emerald green satin dress. It was something that would have cost her a small fortune, more than triple the rent of her tiny overpriced apartment, but Rafe had insisted on getting it for her.

This is ridiculous, she had said. It’s just a dress.

Really, it’s nothing. Rafe said, waving away her protests. If you want to blend in, you’re going to need to dress the part.

I can’t ask you to pay for this.

You don’t need to ask, he chuckles. I’m telling you that I’ll pay.

But I’ll only ever wear this dress like once, maybe twice.

That would be a real shame. You look really beautiful in it.

The comment had shut Sabina up, bringing forth a light blush to stain her cheeks.

I know that this doesn’t seem like pocket change to you, Rafe said, but it is. And even if it wasn’t, this dress would be worth the price.

“Sabina,” a voice calls. A hand reaches out for her own, intertwining their fingers between hers. “Relax,” they say, “the more you twitch, the more attention you’ll bring to us.”

She sighs, looking at Rafe. She squeezes Rafe’s hand, as she glances around the room.

The pair were at an exclusive, membership-only bar. A hotspot for filthy rich assholes, those that are usually linked to shady business deals and other questionable methods of income. Sabina felt out of place, standing amongst the elite of wealthy society. While these people sweetened a cup of tea with liquid gold, she was one to ration a bottle of honey.

“Maybe I should go,” she says. “I feel like everyone can tell that I don’t belong here.”

“Nonsense,” Rafe says. “Everyone knows that you’re here with me; they all watched us walk in together.”

“Every time I exhale, someone looks at me like I’m tainting the air.”

“Ignore them.”

“That’s easy for you to say,” she huffs. “Nobody is looking at you like you’re trash that someone dragged in from the street.”

Rafe chuckles. “They’re curious about you.”

“I’m pretty sure everyone believes I’m a gold digger that’s playing you.”

“Come on,” he says, tugging at her hand. He begins to lead her out of the bar.

“Where are we going?”

“You’ll see.”

“But the seller—Rafe—he could be here any moment.”

“He can wait five minutes,” he says. “You look like you’re about to suffocate.”

“But—”

“Trust me, Sabina.”

She sighs, but stops her struggle.

Rafe leads her up a short flight of stairs and then outside, onto a balcony. The late night air of Germany chills her arms, triggering a layer of fresh goosebumps. But she ignores the cold when her mind becomes focused on the view in front of her. The balcony overlooks a vast forest of pine trees, illuminated by the silver-blue haze of moonlight.

Sabina takes in a deep inhale of the crisp air.

“What’s bothering you?” Rafe asks.

“What?” She turns to look at him. “Nothing. Nothing, really.”

“Wow,” he takes a step closer to her, placing his hands on the iron railing. “You didn’t even try to sound convincing with that response.”

“I’m fine.”

“The key to a good partnership is communication,” Rafe says. “So, communicate. Talk to me, huh?”

“I feel like I’m wasting your time,” Sabina admits.

“What? Why would you think that?”

“And your money,” she continues.

“What are you talking about?”

“What if I can’t solve the medallion?” Sabina grips onto the railing in front of her. “Can’t solve the puzzle or figure out whatever piece I need in order to even attempt solving it. Or what if it’s broken? What if it was part of something else and that something is long gone? Rafe, I’ve barely contributed anything in the past year.”

He opens his mouth to respond, but Sabina interrupts him.

“We’ve hardly made any progress,” she says. “Maybe I’m holding us back, leading us in the wrong directions. God, I keep turning those fucking rings. As if it’s going to make a difference and one day I’ll magically line it up correctly and everything with click into place. But it hasn’t happened… and I’m not sure if it will.”

“You’re not wrong,” Rafe says. “We’ve been circling the same set of clues for longer than either of us would like to. But that doesn’t mean we should give up altogether.”

“I think we should part ways,” Sabina says.

His eyes widen.

“We started off as business partners, but let’s be honest. We’re hardly fifty-fifty. You’re footing the bill for everything,” she says. “Our trips. Our purchases. Our bribes. You’ve even started paying my bills, covering my living expenses. We can’t be equals if the contributions aren’t equal. You give everything, but I have nothing to give in return.”

“If you think I’m mad about the money, you’re mistaken. I’ve told you before, money isn’t a problem.”

“You keep saying that!” Sabina runs a hand through her hair, ruining the perfect curls. “I appreciate the help, I really do, but I feel like I’ve become far too indebted to you. If we don’t find Avery’s treasure, I’ll never be able to pay you back for everything.”

“You don’t need to pay me back,” he says.

“Rafe—”

“I don’t financially support you because I want you to feel like you’re in my debt,” he says. He reaches out for her hand, but freezes, unsure. “I do it because I believe in you.”

“You’re sucking up to me,” she smiles.

“I do it because I need you,” Rafe gently wraps his fingers around her arm, turning her to face him. “I want you to be in this with me.”

Sabina blinks, confused by the hint of longing in his voice.

“I care for you, Sabina. I’m in love with you,” he says.

She freezes, processing his words.

“You’re not a burden to me. You’re brilliant, one of the most intelligent women I’ve ever met. And despite every terrible that that has happened to you, you still manage to show kindness. You are caring, protective of those close to you.” Rafe pauses, taking a breath. “When we were in Columbia, when you almost—”

Died.

The pair had gone to the country just a couple of months prior to investigate a cave with a potential lead. While examining the markings carved into the stone, Sabina had set off a trap, triggering an explosion. Rubble had fallen down near the exit, blocking her inside and separating her from Rafe. Moments later the cave was flooding. Desperate, Rafe and Sabina pushed and pulled at the debris, trying to make a big enough hole for her to slip through. As her lungs began to fill up with the water, she started to lose consciousness. Rafe had managed to pull her through a gap, just before she had blacked out completely.

“I realized how much you mean to me,” Rafe continues. “I want a life with you.”

Without a moment to waste, Sabina grips onto Rafe’s tie and pulls him closer. She presses her lips against his, overwhelmed, but attempting to convey all of her emotions in the act. Sabina moves her hands to rest one against his neck. The other travels to the back of his head, allowing her fingers to clutch onto the short strands of his hair.

He wanted her.

He loved her.

And in this moment, he needed her, with or without the treasure.

Rafe pulls her into his arms, flush against his body. His nails dig into the satin, longing to instead feel the bare flesh beneath the fabric. His kiss is eager, desperate, intense, yet too gentle at the same time. Sabina can sense that he wants to feel more of her and it’s something that she’ll happily give.

December 2015

The sound of splitting wood and crashing debris echoes in the rainforest, originating from Nadine’s last known location. Rafe and a couple of the Shoreline mercenaries were hot on her heels, rushing to get to the Nate before he could slip away again. Trailing behind, Sabina struggles to keep up with the men, but her short legs can only do so much.

“…forget about her! We gotta get out of here before they—”

The man’s voice comes to abrupt stop when Rafe runs out of the ruined buildings of Libertalia and into the open. Rafe raises a gun, pointing it at the men in front of him. The two mercenaries follow suite, also aiming their weapons at the targets.

“Shit. Whoa, whoa, whoa,” the man says, alarmed. “Everybody just… just calm down, okay?”

Nearly gasping for air, Sabina approaches the exit.

“Well, this is interesting,” Rafe says. “Nate. Samuel.”

Sabina halts, frozen by the name. Samuel? Who the hell is—

“Put your guns down!” A new voice yells. “All of you.”

Samuel?

The old sapphire ring on her right hand feels heavy on her finger. For years she hadn’t noticed the jewelry, burying away its significance in her life. Now it was the only thing her buzzing brain could focus on.

“No,” her husband responds.

“Rafe, this guy’s on edge,” Nadine says.

“Oh, don’t worry about him, Nadine.” Rafe takes a small step forward. “These guys don’t kill anyone in cold blood. It’s just not their style.”

“You willing to bet her life on that?” One of the men says.

With shaky steps, Sabina steps into the clearing. Her eyes focused on Shoreline’s targets. There, she sees Nate, looking exhausted and worried. He’s covered in dirt, dust, and droplets of sweat. To his left is Nadine: held hostage, gun to her head. And there, holding the gun, is a familiar, but aged, face. The face of a dead man, of a man that she hasn’t seen in fifteen years. A man that she had shed countless tears for, before she had forced herself to lock away her memories of him, to bury him deep, deep in the back of her mind.

“Sam?” The name is whispered through her lips, ignored by everyone.

“Go ahead then,” Rafe says. “Shoot her.”

“Sam,” Nate warns.

“I die, you both die,” Nadine says.

“So be it,” Sam hisses into her ear. “Not another step!”

“You mean… like this?” Rafe takes another step forward.

“Sam, put the gun down!” Nate says.

“I warned you.”

“Do it!” Rafe taunts.

Nadine shouts, “Rafe!”

Just as Sam’s finger begins to press down on the trigger, Nate rushes towards him. He shoves the gun upwards, away from Nadine.

The sound of a gunshot rings in the air.

And Nadine uses the opportunity to slam her elbow back into Sam’s stomach, allowing her to slip away from his hold.

“Wait!” Sabina screams, running towards the Drakes.

Nate holds the gun up in the air. “It’s done!”

“Hold your fire!” Rafe turns to yell at the mercenaries, holding up his arms. “Don’t shoot!”

Sabina rushes to Sam’s side. He’s hunched over, stunned from Nadine’s blow. “Oh, my god,” she says. “Sam?”

The man lifts his head to look at her. “Bina? What are you doing here?”

“What am I doing here?” She asks. “What are you doing here?”

“Nate, put the gun down,” Rafe says. “Sabina, what are you doing?”

She ignores him.

Nadine picks up the gun. “Don’t worry, Nadine. It’s not their style,” she quotes, walking passed Rafe.

“What can I say?” Rafe replies. “I didn’t think he had it in him.”

“I don’t understand—I thought—Sam—”

“It’s complicated, but I’m here,” he responds. He lifts his right hand to brush the back of his fingertips against her cheek. “I missed you.”

“Sam—”

“Jesus, will somebody go get her?” Rafe addresses the mercenaries.

The man to Rafe’s right approaches Sabina, gun still trained on Sam. He grabs onto her arm, attempting to pull her away from the older Drake.

“Don’t touch her!” Sam yells. But when the mercenary points the barrel of the gun directly into his face, Sam stops protesting.

Rafe steps forward, approaching the Drakes. “Samuel. You okay?” He reaches forward to brush off some of the dust on the man’s shoulders. “I guess you knew this moment was coming, huh?” Rafe slams his handgun across Sam’s face, knocking him down onto the ground.

“Hey!” Nate says. “C’mon, man. You got us. Take it easy.”

Rafe reaches for Sabina, pulling her away from the mercenary. With a firm grip on her arm, he positions her to stand slightly behind himself.

“C’mon now,” Nate says. “You’re a businessman. Let’s just… work out a deal.”

“Oh, a deal,” Rafe says. “Oh, yeah, I’d love to hear what you have in mind.” He takes a step forward, pulling Sabina with him, and then kicks Sam in the face.

“Rafe!” Sabina snaps.

“Oh, you can go ahead,” Rafe says to Nate. “I’m listening.”

“Alright, just… alright,” Nate leans down to help Sam stand back up. “Look, you wanna find Avery’s treasure? We’ll help you find it.”

“And in exchange, I let you live?”

“Yeah,” Nate hesitates. “That and a small cut.”

Rafe laughs. “The gauchos on this guy.”

“Just enough to get him freedom, okay?”

“His freedom?”

“Nathan—” Sam says.

“Yeah,” Nate interrupts. “He did hard time. Our time. And the guy who broke him out, Hector Alcazar, he owes him a lot of money.”

“Whoa, what the hell are you talking about, Nate?” Rafe says. “Hector Alcazar died in a shootout in Argentina like six months ago. I’m the one that got Samuel out.”

Sabina frowns, confused, and turns her head to look at her husband.

Nate looks over at Sam, before turning his attention back to Rafe. “What?”

“Oh,” a look of realization shines on Rafe’s features. “Wow. What did he tell you? Sam, what kind of story did you cook up? Alcazar? Really? You lied? You lied to your baby brother?”

“We’re wasting time,” Nadine says.

“Just a second,” Rafe responds. “Thing is, Nate, I never stopped looking for Avery’s treasure. I just kept running into these dead ends,” he chuckles, “you know? And then I heard that our dear ol’ Samuel Drake, an authority on Avery—is alive and somewhat well. There was no breakout. I bribed the prison warden and your brother waltzed right out the front gate. He spent the last two years tracking down the second Saint Dismas cross. And you know what? He did it all with me.”

Sabina opens her mouth to speak, “Two years—”

“No,” Nate says.

“Oh, yeah.”

“No, that’s bullshit!”

“Oh, Sam?” Rafe turns his direction towards the man. “Care to refute?”

He sighs. “Nate…”

“Aw, Sam… Ah, Jesus, no, no…”

Sam takes a step closer to his brother. “Listen, Avery’s treasure was ours,” he says. “It was always ours.”

“No!” Nate yells. “I left my life for you!”

“Hey, look, look, Nate,” Rafe says, laughing. “If it’s any consolation, he duped me, too. He pulled a Houdini on me. He brought you and that old man back into the mix. And I cannot lie, Sam, that really pissed me off. But you know… all behind us now.”

“You don’t deserve it,” Sam says.

“You do? Last I checked we’re all a bunch of thieves, digging around where we shouldn’t.”

Nadine approaches the bickering men, “Rafe.”

“What?”

“One way or another, end it,” she says. “Or I will.”

Rafe nods. “Well, you heard the lady,” he says, aiming his gun at Sam.

“Wait,” Sabina says. “Don’t—”

“Hey,” Nate says. “You miss one clue and you can kiss that treasure goodbye. You said it yourself: you keep running into dead ends. Why don’t you face it, Rafe. You need us.”

“Rafe, put the gun down,” Sabina says.

He ignores her, eyes focused on the Drake brothers. “Yeah, you’re right,” Rafe says, lowering the gun. He pauses for a moment, before continuing, “You’re half right. I just need Sam.” Rafe raises the gun again, pointing it at Nate.

Sabina pulls her arm out of Rafe’s grip and rushes forward to stand in front of the Drakes. “Don’t,” she yells.

“Honey,” Rafe sighs. “I need you to step out of the way.”

Sabina shakes her head. She holds her arms out to her sides, as if her small frame could shield the two men. “I can’t do that,” she says.

“Bina,” Sam reaches for her shoulder.

“Don’t even think about touching my wife,” Rafe says, aiming the gun at him.

“Put the gun down!” Sabina says.

“You’re really going to defend them,” her husband scoffs. “You’re picking these two assholes over me, your husband?”

“It’s not about picking sides,” Sabina says. “And why should I side with you anyway? You’ve known Sam has been alive, all of this time? And you didn’t think to tell me? Why? Why would you do that?”

“It’s complicated,” he says.

“Then explain it to me.”

“You talk in your sleep,” Rafe sighs and lowers the gun.

“Okay? So?”

“You say all sorts of things, you know,” Rafe takes a cautious step forward. “You reenact your memories, your nightmares. You relive all of those traumatic moments that you keep buried. You’ve screamed about your parents, screamed about the night of their murder. And you cry about… him,” he says, glancing at Sam. “You regret Panama, regret not pushing harder at looking for an alternative plan. You regret not telling me what he meant to you.”

“I—”

“But one day you stopped,” Rafe says. “I didn’t tell you about Sam because I thought that you had finally finished grieving his death. I didn’t want you to go through that all over again.”

Sabina relaxes her arms. “How dare you make that choice for me,” she says.

“It’s not like he ever bothered to search for you. He didn’t even tell his own brother he was alive,” Rafe says. “What makes you think that he would’ve bothered to see you, Sabina? If he had never betrayed me, we wouldn’t all be here right now. Not like this. You might have gone the rest of your life believing that Sam had died in that prison.”

Sabina swallows a lump in her throat. Her heartbeat is racing, pounding against her chest. She angles her body to look at Sam.

He avoids her gaze, turning his eyes down towards the ground.

An admission of guilt?

Rafe takes another step forward. “I lied to you, I’ll admit that.” He extends a hand in her direction. “But I didn’t do it out of malice. Step away from them, honey. We can find the treasure. We will find the treasure.”

“I don’t care about that,” she says. “You lied to me.”

“I never did it with the intention of hurting you,” Rafe says. “But I promise you that I won’t make that mistake again.”

“How can I trust you?”

"We’re partners, remember? Not just for this treasure, but in life.”

“Please,” Sabina says. “Don’t hurt them.”

“Everything is going to be okay, honey.”

Hesitant, Sabina reaches forward, placing her hand on top of Rafe’s open palm.

“Bina, don’t,” Sam says.

Rafe steps closer to his wife, pulling her into a tight hug. “That’s my girl,” he says, eyes focused on Sam.

Sabina digs her nails into the back of his shirt and buries her face into his chest.

With one arm wrapped around his wife, Rafe aims his gun at Nate. “Back to business then.”

“Wait,” Sabina tries to pull herself out of his hold, but Rafe’s grip is firm. “You promised—”

“Wait now,” Nate says. “You’re making a mistake, you got—”

“Rafe, don’t!” Sam steps forward, partially blocking Nate. “Rafe, don’t, don’t, listen I—”

Ignoring their pleas, Rafe fires the gun. The shot misses Nate, but hits Sam in his left arm. The impact of the bullet sends him stumbling backwards, causing him to bump into Nate. Less than a moment later, Nate disappears, falling off the edge of the cliff.

“Nathan!” Sam yells.

Rafe turns to look at Nadine and the mercenaries. “Take him,” he orders.

February 2002

A morning glow peaks in through the curtains, illuminating the couple tangled beneath the bedsheets. Sabina whines at the touch of light and hides her face beneath the covers. Beside her, Rafe shifts, awoken by the movement. His hand brushes against Sabina’s naked back, fingers trailing along the curve of her spine.

“Good morning,” he says.

“No,” Sabina mumbles, “go back to sleep.” She buries her face into his chest.

Rafe chuckles. “You know that I’d love to do that.”

“Don’t argue. Just sleep.”

He places a hand on top of the one Sabina is laying on his chest. Rubs his thumb across the tops of her fingers. “But I have business meetings I can’t postpone any further,” he says.

“Give me the handcuffs,” she says. “I’ll chain you to the bed.”

“Are you sure?” Rafe pushes the cover away from her face. “You seem to enjoy wearing them more than I do.”

“I’m not the one who plans on leaving.”

He cups her cheek and pulls her into a kiss. “If I keep postponing, they’ll walk away completely.”

“Fine,” Sabina pouts.

Rafe recaptures her lips. He grabs onto her hips and coerces her to lay down on her back. When he moves to hover above her, Sabina wraps her legs around his waist and pulls him against her body.

“You know that I love you, right?” Rafe says.

Sabina nods, pulling him in for another kiss.

But he pulls away, choosing instead to look at her flushed cheeks. Rafe smiles and brushes the loose strands of hair away from her face. He rolls off of her and opens the drawer in the beside table.

Sabina sits up in the bed, alarmed. “What’s wrong?”

Rafe turns back towards her. “Marry me,” he says, holding up a small black velvet box.

She blinks up at him, processing the words that are swimming around in her discombobulated head. “What did you say?”

As he takes a nervous breath, he pulls back the lid of the box. “Will you marry me?”

Sabina’s eyes focus on the object inside, a ring.

A pear-shaped diamond, set on a sleek white gold band.

“You want… to marry me?”

“I do,” Rafe frowns. He’s hurt, confused by her response. “I love you. There’s no one in the world I would rather be with.”

Sabina reaches for the box, pulling it out of Rafe’s hand. “But the treasure,” she says, “we haven’t found Avery’s treasure yet. What if we never find it? Would you still want to be with me?”

“Yes,” he responds. “I don’t want to marry the treasure. I want to marry you.”

“Okay,” she whispers. Sabina sniffles, overwhelmed by emotion. But there’s a twinkle in her watering eyes and a small smile on her swollen lips. “Yes,” she says. “Yes!” She throws herself onto Rafe, knocking him down onto the bed, and peppers him with feverish, giddy kisses.

December 2015

The moment Sam had revealed where the treasure was, still on Avery’s ship, Rafe gathered together some of the Shoreline men. Using the distraction, Sabina approaches the mercenary that has been assigned to keep an eye on the Drake brother.

“Jonas, right?”

“Yes, ma’am,” he says.

She tilts her head in Sam’s direction. “If you let me speak with him alone, I’ll wire five thousand dollars into your bank account.”

He pauses, mulling over the offer. “Gotta be honest with ya, I’m not sure if dealing with your husband’s temper is worth that price.”

“Ten thousand.”

“Fifteen.”

“Sure,” Sabina shrugs. “It’s his money anyway.”

“Try to be quick about it, yeah?” Jonas steps out of the way, allowing her to slip inside of the small alcove.

Hearing the approaching footsteps, Sam looks up at his guest. His hands are bound, tied tightly with rope. The gunshot wound in his arm is bandaged, but splotches of blood have seeped through the gauze. He sighs, leaning back against the stone wall. “Bina,” he greets.

“Hey, Sam,” she says. She sits down on the floor, away from his reach. “So… I’m not sure on how to go about this discussion. My kind-of-ex-boyfriend coming back from the dead isn’t a scenario that I was ever prepared for.”

“Listen, I—”

“Were you going to tell me?” She interrupts. “Were you ever going to let me know that you were still alive?”

He sighs. “I thought about you, all the time. But I didn’t think that I was ever gonna get out of there. And then, when I did, well, Rafe was the one pulling those strings. Thirteen years had gone by. I figured that you had already moved on.”

“Well, you weren’t wrong,” Sabina admits. “I did get married—”

Sam laughs, a cynical chuckle. “You sure did, huh? Married Rafe. Could’ve picked anyone in the whole world, but you picked him.”

“I don’t have to justify my actions to you,” she says. “What was I supposed to do? Dwell on you for the rest of my life? Stay single, alone forever? I thought you were dead. How could you have expected me to wait for someone who wasn’t coming back?”

“You didn’t have to pick him,” Sam mutters.

“I didn’t have to, but I did! I wanted him. And I knew that he wanted me.” Sabina pauses, using the moment to calm herself down. “‘After we find the treasure, run away with me.’ That was your pseudo-proposal, word for word.”

“I remember,” he says.

“When Rafe asked me to marry him, there was no caveat,” she says. “He simply wanted me. It wasn’t all or nothing. I wasn’t part of a package deal.”

Sam frowns. “I wasn’t trying to imply that you were.”

“Sam,” Sabina shakes her head. “If you had never gotten trapped in that prison, if you had made it out of Panama with Rafe and Nate, do you really think that we would still be together?”

“I—I don’t know,” he says. “I’d like to think that we would be.”

“I think you would’ve left me,” Sabina says.

“What? Why would you think that?”

“For two decades, all you’ve thought about is that treasure. You didn’t even tell Nate that you were alive. You kept him in the dark, then you lied to him. If tracking down your brother isn’t one of the first things you do once you’ve gained your freedom, then where am I on that list?”

“Things were complicated.”

“Not nearly as complicated as you pretend them to be,” she says. “You’re just a selfish asshole. You don’t care that you’ve hurt people, betrayed them, let them down.” Sabina sits up on her knees and reaches for the back pocket of her pants. She pulls out a pocket knife and flips it open.

“Hey,” Sam says, doing his best to inch away from her. “Bina, I know you’re upset. But you don’t need to do this.”

She wraps her fingers around his bound hands and pulls him towards her. “I’m such an idiot,” she mutters. Sabina saws her knife through the rope, breaking the binds.

“What—”

“I love Rafe, I do,” she says. “But once, I think I loved you. I cared about you, at least. I might be a bit pissed off at you right now, but I won’t stand by while Rafe holds you captive. Just get out of here.”

Sam holds onto her hands and leans towards her. “Come with me,” he says.

“I can’t,” she whispers.

“You know what kind of man he is,” he says. “You deserve better.”

Sabina shakes her head, frowning. “I’m not sure if you’re much better.” She pulls herself away from him. “None of us are who we used to be. Rafe and I have our problems, but when we work, we work. I won’t deny that things have been a bit strained, lately. But that doesn’t mean that we can’t fix our marriage. I won’t throw all of this away for you. Not anymore.”

Sam nods his head, a grimace on his lips.

“Just so you, I’m glad you’re alive,” Sabina says.

“I’m sorry. For everything.”

“I know,” she says. “Okay,” Sabina stands up. “Right. I need you to punch me or something.”

“What?” Sam says, also moving to stand up.

“Well, we need to stage your escape,” she says.

“Can’t I just walk out of here?”

“I paid off the guard. It’ll look suspicious if you disappear after I leave.”

“I’m not going to punch you,” Sam says.

“Just punch me! Then take out the guard.”

“Bina—”

“Sam,” she hisses. “For once in your life, just listen to me. We don’t need to argue about everything.”

“Oh, my god,” he groans. “Why does your plan involve me punching you in the face?”

“What—I never told you to punch my face.”

“Jesus Christ—”

“Is that where you wanted to punch me?”

“That’s not what I meant—”

“Maybe I should punch you in the fucking face,” Sabina says, taking a step towards him.

“Whoa, whoa, hold on,” Sam says, holding his hands up in front of him. “I’m just saying that—”

“Oi,” a voice interrupts.

Sam and Sabina turn to look at the entrance.

Jonas the Mercenary stands there, gun pointed in Sam’s direction. “What’s going on here? You untie him?”

“Jonas,” Sabina says. Her eyes flicker over to Sam, before focusing again on the mercenary. “Thank god you’re here! Samuel was… threatening me. Said that he would kill me if I didn’t cut the rope.”

“That so?” He takes a few steps forward. “Guess we should tie him back up.”

“Right,” she agrees.

“Go stand by the door,” he says. “I’ll bind him.”

Sabina throws one last glance at Sam, before heading towards the exit. Just as she walks passed the mercenary, she slams her foot into the back of his knee, knocking him off-balance. Sam rushes forward and pulls the assault rifle out of Jonas’ hands. Using the grip of the gun, he slams it across the man’s face, leaving him dazed and gasping on the ground. For good measure, Sam hits the mercenary again, breaking his nose.

“Go,” Sabina says.

Sam looks at her, opens his mouth to tell her something.

“Go! Get out of here.”

“Thank you,” he says. Without another moment to spare, Sam sprints out of the alcove.

Sabina gives him a head start. She waits for thirty seconds, before making her move. Clutching a fake bruise on her side, she stumbles out of the alcove, yelling at the top of her lungs. “Help! I need help! Rafe!”

A couple of mercenaries run towards her. “What’s going on?”

“I—I don’t know,” she says, gasping for air. “It all happened so fast—oh, my god, Jonas—Jonas is in there.”

“Sabina?” Rafe says, running towards her. “Honey, what happened?”

“Sam! He—he escaped!”

He directs his gaze to the mercenaries. “Find him,” he says.

“I’m sorry,” Sabina says. “I tried to stop him, but I couldn’t and he—he had a gun. I didn’t know what to do.”

Holding the sides of her face in his hands, Rafe leans down to press a kiss on her forehead. “It’s okay, honey. Are you okay? Did he hit you?”

“I got tangled up in the fight,” she says. “But I’ll be fine.”

“Okay, good,” he says, nodding. “He’s probably heading for the treasure. We need to go catch up.”

“Are you serious right now?”

“We are so close. We’re practically right there. Just need to beat him to it.” Rafe grabs onto her hand, pulling her along with him.

They rush down the tunnel, heading for where the boats are docked. As they enter the area, Sam is driving away with one of the boats. Rafe drags Sabina towards Nadine, whom is loading up a boat with treasure.

“Sam just stole our goddamn boat,” Rafe says. “He’s headed for Avery’s ship. Come on.”

“Let him,” she says. “We’re done.”

Rafe looks at her, confused. “We’re done?”

“Most of my men are dead, Rafe. And those who aren’t have already left.”

“Can you see that?” Rafe asks, pointing in the direction of Avery’s ship. “The end is literally in sight.”

“That maniac pirate of yours has rigged this entire cave. I’m not setting foot on his ship.”

“Nadine, if you cut and run right now, the loss of all your men—everything that we’ve done—is for nothing.”

Nadine points to the raft on her left. “We have millions in gold, right here. I’d say that, plus our lives, is something.” She steps around Rafe, moving to finish getting the raft ready for departure.

“No wonder so many of your men abandoned you,” Rafe says.

Nadine turns to look at him. “Excuse me?”

Sabina glances at the mercenary standing behind her, alerted by the sound of him adjusting his grip on his gun.

Rafe steps away from her, approaching Nadine. “We’re on the verge of making history here, and you’re willing to just walk off with a pittance, a fraction what Sam’s gonna get from that boat.”

“If he can walk away from that ship alive, he can have it,” Nadine says. “Hell, I’d say he’s earned it. God knows you didn’t.”

A moment of stillness, and then—

Rafe slaps Nadine across her face. “Now look,” he says, following another brief pause. “We can stand here and insult each other all day, or we can finish what it is that we—”

Nadine interrupts him, slamming her fist into his stomach. She shoves Rafe onto the ground and then aims her pistol at him.

“Rafe!” Sabina rushes to his side.

“Oh,” Nadine yells, “we’re finishing it all right—” The sound of a gun being cocked pulls her attention away from the man.

“Sorry, ma’am,” the mercenary says, with his gun aimed at her.

Sabina helps Rafe onto his feet, double checking him for any other injuries.

“Yeah… the thing about mercenaries, Nadine,” he says. “Their loyalty, it’s bought. It’s not earned. Now, come on. Either we finish this thing together, or we can just end it right here.”

Sabina lifts her eyes, meeting her gaze with the other woman. “Just get in the boat, Ms. Ross,” she says. “Please, nobody else needs to die right now.”

Nadine glances down at her weapon, before slowly lowering it. “Let’s go make history,” she says, tucking the gun away.

“Atta girl,” Rafe says, gesturing towards the boat.

When Sabina and Nadine make eye contact once again, Sabina mouths, “I’m so sorry.”

Nadine holds her gaze for a moment, before climbing into the boat.

September 2002

Growing up, she had never imagined what her wedding might look like. She had never pictured her dress, the venue. She had never thought about who would be waiting for her at the end of the aisle. Getting married had always seemed like an event that would be too extravagant and… depressing. She had no one to walk her down the aisle. No family to invite. Her friendships had always been rather brief, dependent on where she was traveling and if they could help her get what she was looking for.

People kept telling her that her wedding would be one of the happiest days of her life.

Yet, she had never felt so isolated from everyone.

Standing on a raised platform, Sabina stares at her reflection in the large trifold mirror. Her head feels heavy, stuffed full with curled extensions that are pulled up into an intricate bun. Her lace cathedral veil is pinned into place, once again. In her nerves, Sabina has already tugged it out of position five times. The strings of her corset are pulled tight, constricting her ability to breathe. She wants to tear them out, wants a breath of fresh unrestrained air, but it’s too late for that now. Fiddling with her diamond ring, Sabina resists the urge to smooth down the organza fabric of her dress.

When she had first put on the ivory off-the-shoulder ball gown, she had felt like a fool, like she was undeserving of the dress. The fabric was covered in thousands of crystals, each of which were carefully positioned by hand. The crystals were arranged in complex floral designs and placed beneath a layer of organza. This dulled their shine, creating the softer, ethereal sparkling effect that Sabina had wanted. But still, she had felt that this dress was too glamorous.

Upon seeing her, Rafe’s mother had surprised her with tears. Telling her that the dress was perfect, made for her. And in that moment, Sabina had also cried. Was this how her own mother would have reacted? Would she be in agreement with Mrs. Adler? Or would she have longed to see Sabina in a different silhouette? Marrying a different man?

“Miss Hewitt,” the wedding planner’s voice captures her attention. “I don’t want to rush you, but we are behind schedule. Your groom is starting to get a bit nervous.”

“Ten more minutes,” Sabina says.

“Miss Hewitt,” she sighs. “Your guests have already been waiting for an hour.”

Sabina shakes her head. Subconsciously, her fingers grasp onto the edge of her veil. “Just give him ten more minutes,” she says. “He’ll be here.” And once again, the material is pulled out of place.

The woman frowns, giving Sabina a pitying look. “I understand that you want him to walk you down the aisle, Miss Hewitt.” She snaps her fingers at the hair stylist, prompting them to get up and work on resecuring the veil. “However, Mr. Drake didn’t show up for the rehearsal yesterday.”

“Maybe he mixed up the times,” Sabina says. “Or… Or he’s stuck in traffic.” She winces when the stylist stabs her scalp with one of the pins.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t think he’s coming.”

The door to the dressing room opens and an older woman steps into the room. With her red lips pulled into the slightest hint of a frown, she asks, “Is something wrong?”

“Mrs. Adler,” the wedding planner greets. “Miss Hewitt has been insisting that we wait for Nathan Drake’s arrival, even though I have told her several times that it is extremely unlikely that he will be in attendance.”

Sabina sighs, closing her eyes. “Just ten more minutes,” she says, before taking a deep breath. “I just want ten more minutes.”

“Miss Hewitt—”

“Give her the ten minutes,” Mrs. Adler says. When her eyes settle on Sabina’s reflection, the sharp contours of her face soften. “I would like a moment of privacy with Sabina.”

Without further instruction, the wedding planner, the hair stylist, and the makeup artist all hurry out of the room. The bridesmaids, dressed in mauve colored chiffon gowns, are quick to follow.

“Are you okay?” Mrs. Adler approaches the bride, taking great care to avoid stepping on the much-too-long train of her dress.

Sabina opens her mouth to speak, but the words are caught in her throat. Instead, she rests her hands against her stomach, hoping to appease the stabbing sensations coming from inside.

“A wedding can feel overwhelming,” the woman says. “I was a mess for my own day. In my heart, I knew that I was marrying the right person, but I still had my doubts. I had a bit of a freakout, myself. Locked myself in a bathroom, for half an hour, and debated about the pros and cons of marriage. It’s okay to be nervous, Sabina. Most brides are. But I wonder if there is something else bothering you, something beyond nerves.”

Sabina swallows a lump in her throat.

“Your life has been deprived of a mother figure,” Mrs. Adler continues. “If it’s alright with you, I can be that figure for you. You are family now, my dear. You can talk to me. I will listen.”

“God, there’s just so many people here,” Sabina gasps.

“Rafe was a bit generous with the guest list,” Mrs. Adler agrees. “Is that why you’re upset?”

“To be honest,” Sabina says. “I’ve never put much thought into a wedding. I never imagined that I would be walking into a room full of hundreds of strangers. Everyone is here for Rafe, aren’t they? They’re not here for me. I’m just a show.”

“Tell me why you are here.”

The bride frowns, confused. “To get married.”

“Then you are here for Rafe,” Mrs. Adler says. “Not for your guests. And Rafe, Rafe is here for you. He is waiting at the end of the aisle,” she smiles, “for you. Forget about the people who have come to watch. The truth is that most of them are not really here for Rafe. They are here to keep up appearances, to maintain a good impression. When you reach the end of the aisle, you will forget all about those strangers.”

Sabina turns to look at the woman and gives her a small smile. “Thank you,” she says.

“I have a gift for you,” Mrs. Adler says. She reaches for wrist, unclasping a gold bracelet lined with rubies. “I was planning to give it to you after the ceremony, as a little ‘welcome to the family’ gift, but I think that it would be better for you to have it now.” The woman reaches out for Sabina’s left hand, pulling it towards her, and then secures the jewelry around the wrist.

“It was my mother’s,” Mrs. Adler continues. “She gave it to me on my wedding day. And now I continue that tradition and give it to you.”

“Mrs. Adler—”

“Gemma. Call me Gemma.”

“Thank you, Gemma.”

“I will give you a few minutes to compose yourself,” Gemma says. “Wipe away those tears, yes?”

Sabina nods.

Just moments after Rafe’s mother exits the dressing room, the door reopens.

“Holy shit,” a man says. “Look at you.”

Through the reflection in the mirror, Sabina sees him. She gasps and turns to look at the man, “Sully?”

“Hey, there, kiddo,” he says, approaching her. “You know, I had a feeling you would be a stunning bride, but you’ve exceeded my expectations.”

“It’s the dress,” she replies. “A forty-seven thousand dollar custom made gown.”

“That’s some serious cash,” Sully whistles.

“This is just the ceremony gown. The reception dress is even more.” Sabina shakes her head. “I can’t even believe I’m wearing something so expensive.”

“You are marrying Rafe. Did you expect anything less?”

“I’m glad you’re here, Sully,” Sabina smiles. “I wasn’t sure if you were going to make it. I know that you and Rafe are… far from friends.”

“I wouldn’t miss your wedding, kid,” he says. “But what are you still doing back here? Not that I don’t enjoy the sight, but you’re starting to make Rafe sweat out there.”

“I invited Nate,” she says. “God, I even asked him to walk me down the aisle.”

Sully nods, beginning to figure out the problem. “Nate’s not here, is he?”

“I think I always knew that he wouldn’t show,” the bride sighs. “I just wanted to be wrong. I know that he hates Rafe, but I thought that maybe—just maybe—he would show up for me.”

“He’s still coping,” Sully says. “Won’t even mention… Sam… nowadays.”

Sabina hums. “Me, too,” she admits. “Sully, am I crazy? Just two years ago, I was willing to drop everything and run off with Sam. And now I’m here, getting married to somebody else. What if I’m making a mistake? Maybe that’s why Nate’s not here? Maybe he thinks that I’ve forgotten about Sam or that I’m closing off that part of my life.”

“Hey,” Sully steps forward and holds onto Sabina’s hands. “No one blames you for moving on with your life. There’s nothing we can do to change what happened.”

“I know, but—”

“Do you love Rafe?”

“Yes.”

“And does he make you happy?”

Sabina nods.

Sully gives her a reassuring smile. “It’s okay to let go of Sam,” he says. “You deserve a life of happiness, especially after everything that you’ve been through.”

Before she can stop herself, the question spills through her lips. “Will you walk me down the aisle?”

“Of course,” Sully says.

“Thank you,” Sabina wraps her arms around the man’s neck, pulling him in for a tight hug.

December 2015

Heat tingles against her skin.

Prickling.

Stinging.

As she breathes, she coughs. Her lungs are stuffed, filled with ashes. When Sabina is finally able to open her eyes, she sees a world of red. She blinks, trying to clear the blurriness of her vision. Sabina groans, rolling onto her back.

She hears a voice yelling for someone… yelling for… Sam?

“Hey, Nate,” a different voice says.

She turns her head to look for the source of the sound. Through the haze, she can see the outline of a man, her husband. In Rafe’s hand is a gun, raised and pointed in front of him.

The first voice replies, “Where is Sam?”

Sabina tilts her head, releases a gasp in pain, and looks at the other man. Nate has his own gunned pointed back at Rafe.

“Oh, he’s right there.” Her husband looks over to his left, where Sam is trapped and unconscious beneath a wooden beam.

“Sam!” Nate calls.

“Relax, he’s alive,” Rafe says. “You know, this idiot nearly got us all killed.”

Oh.

That’s right.

The explosion.

Sam… Sam had caused it, had—

“I’m getting him outta here,” Nate says.

“No, you’re not.”

“Rafe, you can have the treasure, alright? Just let me save my brother.”

Her husband laughs, shaking his head in disbelief. “After everything he’s done? How noble of you, but no.”

“We stay here any longer and we’re all dead,” Nate says. “Is that what you want?”

“That’s not what I said. What do you think, Nadine?”

The Shoreline leader steps in through the doorway and descends the short staircase. Her gun is pointed in Nate’s direction.

Sabina pushes her back off of the uneven wooden floor, moving into a sitting position. The back of her head is burning, throbbing. Pressing her fingertips into her hair, she winces when they make contact with an open wound that’s soaked in some sort of liquid. “Fuck,” she whispers. Sabina brings her hand in front of her face, stares at the warm blood coating her finger tips.

“Good to see you up and about,” Rafe says. “Be a dear and relieve Nate there of his gun.”

“Hand it over,” Nadine says, approaching Nate.

“You really think you can trust him? Huh?” Nate says.

“Not your concern.”

Ignoring the trio, Sabina crawls towards the unconscious Drake brother. “Sam,” she calls, shaking his shoulder. She tries to lift up the wooden beam that has him pinned down, but it doesn’t move. “Sam, wake up. Sam?”

“Now, why are you trying to instigate? Nate—” Rafe says, stepping closer to the mercenary. “Nadine and I are partners, I don’t screw over my partners.”

Nadine takes the gun out of Nate’s hand. Slowly, she starts to back away.

“Get over there,” Rafe orders, pointing his gun towards the other end of the room. “You and your brother though… Right from the start, you took advantage of my generosity. You tried to cut me out and it’s high time you learned—”

Nadine presses the barrel of her gun against the back of Rafe’s head.

“What are you doing?” He asks.

“Now you give me your gun,” she says.

“Sam,” Sabina whispers again. “C’mon, wake up.” She shakes him once more, more aggressive, more insistent. “I need your help.”

Sam’s eyelids twitch, but nothing else moves.

Rafe scoffs, “Nadine.”

She interrupts him with the cock of her gun. “I won’t ask you again.”

The man sighs, then surrenders the gun. “You are being profoundly stupid right now,” Rafe says. He steps away from Nadine and rubs the back of his neck.

“Look over there,” she says, indicating to her right.

“Nadine,” Rafe says, stepping closer to her. “Stop screwing around—”

The mercenary angles her gun down towards the floor, shooting a bullet between his feet.

Sabina screams at the noise, startled.

“Jesus!” Rafe yells.

“I said look!”

“Okay,” he says. Rafe glances over. “It’s a couple of skeletons. So what?”

“I don’t know as much about history as you boys,” Nadine says, “but I’ve got a pretty good idea who those two are.”

“Well,” Rafe says, “enlighten us.”

“It’s Avery and Tew,” Nate explains. “They killed each other.”

Rafe glances over at Nate. “Good for them. What’s the point?”

“Everyone obsessed with this treasure gets what they deserve,” Nadine says. She takes a step back, working her way back up the stairs.

“So what,” Nate calls. “You’re just leaving us here to die?”

“Oh, I’m just leaving,” she responds. “Whether you die or not, I don’t really care.”

“Nadine,” Rafe says. “Don’t.”

The mercenary ignores him, turning her gaze to focus on the other woman. “Sabina,” she says. “If you want to get out of here, come with me.”

“What?” Sabina lifts her head to look at Nadine.

“You don’t need to burn alive with all of these dickheads,” she explains.

“Are you kidding me right now?” Rafe chuckles. “You two have been fighting for weeks—”

“Shut up, Rafe,” Nadine says.

“—and now you wanna be best friends?”

Sabina shakes her head, unsure of what to do. “Nadine, I—”

“Make your choice. Now. I’m going to leave, with or without you.”

“I can’t—I can’t just leave them here,” Sabina says.

“You deserve better than this,” Nadine sighs. “Goodbye, Sabina.”

“Nadine,” Rafe says, moving towards her. “Wait—”

“So long, Rafe,” she says, before pulling the door shut and locking it.

“Nadine! Nadine!” He yells. Rafe slams his fists against the wood. “You open this goddamn door right now!”

“Rafe,” Nate shouts. “She’s gone!” He crouches down next to Sabina, eyes focused on the same wooden beam that she has been struggling to lift. “C’mon, give me a hand. We’ll all get out of here.”

“Oh, no,” Rafe says, pacing around in the corner of the room. “No, that won’t work.”

“I’ve been trying to wake him up,” Sabina looks over at Nate. “But he just hasn’t been responsive.”

“It’s okay,” Nate says, placing a comforting hand on Sabina’s forearm. “C’mon,” he calls to Rafe. “Help me with Sam and I’ll help you open the door.”

Together, Sabina and Nate attempt to life the beam, but struggle with the weight.

“No,” Rafe says.

“Rafe,” Sabina lifts her head to look at her husband. “For god’s sake, just help us.”

He reaches for a sword lodged into one of the skeletons and pulls it out. “I’m not going to be able to enjoy one of these coins, knowing that you and your worthless brother are still sucking air.”

Seeing the sword in Rafe’s hand, Nate stands up and starts to back away. “Alright,” he says. “Just… Just calm down. You can practice your fencing when we get outside.”

“Nate, just shut up,” Rafe says.

“What the hell are you doing?” Sabina says, standing up.

“Seriously, Rafe,” Nate says. “This is insane, even for you.”

“You want to hear insane? Nathan Drake raced a madman and his entire army to the steps of Shambhala.” Rafe takes a step forward and swings his sword at Nate.

“Jesus!” Nate curses, dodging the weapon.

“Nathan Drake found a lost city in the middle of the Rub’ al Khali desert.” Rafe swings the sword again. This time the blade slices through Nate’s shirt, breaking the skin of his chest.

Sabina takes a cautious step forward. “Rafe, please. Put the sword down.”

But the man ignores her, opting to attack Nate once again.

Nate leaps back, barely avoiding the blade. “God damn it—come on, we can get out of here together.”

“Nathan Drake discovered the fabled El Dorado.” Rafe lunges at Nate, swiping the blade twice at the man. With the second swing, the edge of the sword slices across Nate’s chest, leaving behind a new, shallow wound. Again, Rafe attempts to cut into the other man’s skin.

“C’mon Rafe, stop,” Nate says.

“Nathan Drake is a legend,” Rafe laughs. “You know, I shot the man who told me that.”

“Look, I get it. You don’t like me very much.”

“You know, for all your ‘greatness,’ Nate, you have nothing. You are nothing. And I warned you to get out of my way.”

“Stop it!” Sabina screams. She charges into Rafe, shoving him away from Nate. “Rafe, babe, I need you to calm down.”

Rafe hardly spares her a glance, instead moving to step around her.

“Please,” Sabina clutches onto his arm, a poor attempt to hold him back. “Don’t do this.”

He pulls his arm out of her grasp and pushes his wife away from him.

Losing her balance, Sabina stumbles and crashes into a pile of debris near Sam’s body. A jagged piece of metal pierces into the skin of her left arm, leaving her with long gashes. Blood spews out of the wounds, sliding down her flesh and onto the floor. She whimpers, pain pulsating throughout her body.

Eyes focused solely on Nate, Rafe is unaware of what he has caused. He swings the blade at Nate, leaving several more cuts on his chest and arms.

Dodging the sword, Nate grabs onto Rafe’s arm and punches him in the face with his free hand. With both hands firmly gripped onto the arm, Nate struggles to maintain control in the fight. He forces Rafe up against a wall, but Rafe slams his forehead into Nate’s, sending him stumbling backwards.

Rafe seizes the opportunity, pushing his opponent down onto the ground. Fighting against Nate’s resistance, Rafe attempts to shove the blade down into the man’s neck. “I have sacrificed everything to find Avery,” Rafe says. “And I’m not gonna let a couple of two-bit thieves, a senile con man, and a washed-up journalist take that away from me!”

“Enough!” Nate pushes back against Rafe, shoving the man off of him. He reaches to the right and wraps his fingers around the handle of another sword.

“You care about that parade of losers so much,” Rafe says, circling Nate. “I’m going to make sure they join you.”

Sabina presses her hand against the fresh wound, unsure of how to slow the bleeding. “Oh, fuck,” she mutters, “shit.” The liquid seeps through her fingers, mingling with the once drying blood of her head injury.

“En garde, dickhead,” Nate says.

“That’s the spirit,” Rafe smiles.

Nate lunges at him, slamming his sword at the man. The two blades clash against each other and Rafe jumps out of Nate’s reach. When Rafe swings his sword at Nate, the Drake brother rams his elbow into Rafe’s nose and then kicks him in the chest. Rafe stumbles back, hitting the wall behind him. Nate swings again, but this time Rafe kicks the man away from him. He takes a step forward, aiming to slice through Nate’s throat, but Nate blocks him just in time.

Starting to get dizzy, Sabina lays down on the floor. She lifts her wounded arm, forcing herself to take a better look at the cuts. Droplets of blood splatter against her cheeks.

Sabina closes her eyes.

Daddy!

She’s a little girl again, running into the outstretched arms of her father.

Daddy, you’re home!

She wraps her arms around his neck, nearly tackling him down into the ground.

Hey, sweetheart, he says. You should be asleep. He secures his arms around Sabina and lifts her up into the air.

No, she shakes her head. No, I missed you.

I missed you, too. He presses a kiss against her cheek. But you know that Daddy has a lot of work to do.

No, no more work.

Sweetheart—

Why do you always leave? I don’t want you to leave anymore.

Her father sighs. My work is important. I’m going to find something amazing, sweetheart. And when I do, I promise that I won’t ever have to leave you again.

Daddy, please—

Richard Hewitt collapses.

Becomes a bleeding corpse, staining the hardwood floors.

And young Sabina hides beneath the planks, her tiny hands covering her mouth. Eyes are wide, staring at the blood leaking through the cracks, the crevices.

It splatters against her cheeks.

Why couldn’t you pick me?

“—Bina!”

Somebody is shaking her.

“Bina, open your eyes.”

When they press a hand against her cheek, Sabina leans into the warmth.

“C’mon, baby, wake up.”

She opens her eyes and smiles at the sight of a familiar face. “Sam?”

“Yeah,” he says. “I’m right here, but I need you to get up, okay? Nathan and Rafe are about to kill each other and there’s nothing I can do to stop it.”

“Nate… Rafe?” Sabina blinks at him, unable to fully comprehend the words. “What?”

“Bina—”

She tunes out his voice, focusing her attention to the burning warmth surrounding her. When she turns her head to the left, her eyes grow wide. The muddied thoughts in her head dissipate, cleared by the view in front of her.

Rafe swipes his sword against Nate’s stomach and cuts through the fabric of his shirt. He strikes him in the chest with his foot, knocking him down onto his back. Sword pointed at Nate’s throat, Rafe takes a step forward.

“You know what, Nate? Underneath all the bravado, you’re just a sad little boy with delusions—of grandeur… who, by the way, can’t fence for shit,” he says.

Sabina rolls onto her knees, then stumbles up onto her feet. “Wait—”

Rafe raises his sword, ready to end the fight. “So long, Nathan Drake.”

“Nathan!” Sam yells, attracting the attention of both men. He grabs the handle of the sword laying near him and tosses it in Nate’s direction.

Nate grabs it and strikes the blade across Rafe’s own.

“You don’t know when to give up, do you? That’s good,” Rafe says, between each swing of his sword. “Don’t hand it to me. I’ve had everything handed to me on a goddamn silver platter. Everything except this!”

Nate whips his sword in front of him to block another powerful strike, but Rafe’s blade breaks the metal.

“I earned this,” Rafe says. “All of it.”

September 2012

If you ask Sabina to picture her idea of romantic vacation, this is what she would tell you. A candlelit dinner at a truly exquisite, but probably overpriced, restaurant. Walking through the Paris streets, long after dusk. Sharing bottles of wine between giggling, messy kisses. Falling into a comfortable, happy slumber with the love of her life.

But getting everything that you want is impossible.

And for her tenth wedding anniversary, Sabina spends it without her partner. Drunk in her Parisian hotel room, staring at the blurry lights outside of her windows. Her cheeks are swollen. Eyes are puffy and dirty from smeared mascara and navy blue eyeliner. Brunette hair tangled and pulled up into a lopsided bun.

Rafe was supposed to be here. Was supposed to meet her in Paris over a day ago. But her husband had canceled, saying that an issue at work would require his immediate attention. Saying that he would make it up to her, whisk her away to a private island where no one could bother them.

She almost believes him.

When somebody knocks on the door to the suite, Sabina jumps off of the armchair and stumbles across the room. She throws open the door, and without a moment to pause, wraps her arms around the woman standing there.

Chloe Frazer. A fellow treasure hunter that she had met a couple of years ago. The two had become fast friends, bonding over a discussion about whether the treasure described in The Copper Scroll even existed. And if so, where it could possibly be.

“Oh,” the Australian woman says. “I’m happy to see you, too, love.”

Sabina’s words are slurred. “Chloe, I’m so… so happy you’re here.”

“C’mon, let’s get out of the hallway.” Careful, Chloe urges Sabina back through the door. Glancing around the hotel room, she sees shards of broken glass and puddles of red wine. Several partially consumed bottles lay flat on their sides, a source for many of the wine stains.

Sabina grabs onto one of Chloe’s hands and drags her to the dining table. “You must try this Caber… net Sau… Sauvig… non—Cabernet Sauvignon!” She picks up a bottle of wine and hands the whole thing to Chloe. “I must warn you, it’s very… very heavy on the cherry, but it is so good and… six hundred dollars?” Sabina laughs, “Wine is so expensive.”

Chloe grabs the bottle, notices that it is almost empty, and takes a sip. “Not bad,” she hums. “And how many bottles did you buy?”

“I don’t know,” she says. “A few. Maybe… ten.”

Mid-sip, Chloe chokes.

“It doesn’t matter,” Sabina continues. “It’s all Rafe’s fucking money anyway. He won’t even notice.”

“Can’t say I wouldn’t do the same, if I were you.”

Sabina picks up another bottle of wine and collapses onto the sofa. “I think he’s going to leave me,” she says.

Chloe frowns. “Why would you think that?”

“I think I’ve done something terrible.”

“Alright,” Chloe joins the woman on the couch. “Tell me what’s going on in that brain of yours.”

Sabina unclasps the chain around her neck and hands her medallion over to Chloe. “I solved it,” she says.

Chloe raises an eyebrow. “You… solved this?”

“Yes.”

“The mystery puzzle that you’ve been trying to solve for decades?”

“Yes.”

“Well,” Chloe takes another sip of wine. “I’m not sure how this is bad news, but we can come back to that. First, I wanna know how you solved it.”

“Right,” Sabina nods. She takes back the medallion and stands up.

The two women enter the bathroom, where Sabina tosses the medallion into the sink and then closes the drain. She downs a large gulp of wine, before pouring the rest of the contents into the sink.

After a couple of minutes, a dim light appears, glowing from the object. The wine in the sink moves in gentle waves, the liquid disturbed by something beneath the surface. Once the wine settles, Sabina reaches into the sink, retrieves the medallion, and sets it on the counter.

The object looks distorted, with portions of the gold metal jutting out of place. Many, but not all, of the symbols glow in a faint yellow color. The marking in the center, Avery’s sigil, is popped up and pushed away, revealing an inscription.

The treasure you seek will only bring death.

“How the hell did you figure that out?”

“I don’t… I don’t think it’s a clue,” Sabina says.

Chloe picks up on the woman’s train of thought. “You think it’s a warning.”

“Yeah.”

“Have you told Rafe?”

Sabina leans against the bathroom wall and slides down to sit on the ground. “No,” she says, with a sigh.

“Okay, I’ll bite,” Chloe says. She grabs the medallion, before joining Sabina. “Why not?”

“I think he’ll leave me.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Because I want him to stop looking for it. I want him to let go of Avery’s treasure,” Sabina says. “If the warning is true, then I don’t want him to find it.”

“Have you tried telling him that?”

Sabina chuckles. “How do you tell someone to give up on the one goal that drives them to keep going every day? How do you tell them that you’re selfish and you need them to sacrifice their dream?”

Chloe sighs. “I don’t know,” she says.

“You know, I think I was in love with someone,” Sabina admits. “Before Rafe.”

“Oh?” Chloe turns to look at her.

“It was complicated,” Sabina pauses. She pushes strands of hair away from her face and blinks away the forming tears. “And I never really figured out my feelings.”

“Do you miss them?”

Sabina leans over to rest her head on Chloe’s shoulder. “He was also looking for Avery’s treasure,” she says. She takes the bottle of wine away from Chloe and drinks the remaining liquid. “It killed him. All he wanted wanted to do was find that treasure. Would’ve done anything for it. It’s strange, isn’t it? How all of the men in my life are obsessed with this stupid thing. I don’t think the question is if Rafe will die for this treasure. I think the question is when. When will Rafe join Sam and my father?”

“Tell him how you feel,” Chloe reaches forward, laying a comforting hand on Sabina’s knee. “He can’t read your mind.”

“What if he doesn’t want to listen?”

“Trying to force a man like Rafe to listen is probably impossible,” Chloe admits. “But if he really does love you, he will do so.”

“And if he doesn’t?” Sabina lifts her head to meet Chloe’s gaze. “If doesn’t love me?”

“Then maybe it’s time for you to move on, love.”

December 2015

Sabina slams her body into Rafe’s back. She wraps her arms around him, digging her nails into his chest. “No more,” she says, “let it go.” Rafe tries to pry one of her arms off of him, but Sabina tightens her grip. “I said stop!”

“No,” Rafe says. “I’m ending this. I’m taking what’s mine.”

“If you kill him,” Sabina takes a shallow breath. She still feels the wounds throbbing on her arm. Can still feel the blood oozing from the split skin, staining Rafe’s already dirtied shirt. “I will never forgive you.”

It’s subtle, but Rafe tenses at her words.

“If you kill him for this treasure,” Sabina continues, “then I will leave and you will never see me again.”

“Sabina—”

She buries her face into his back. “All of my life, I have never been enough. My father… Sam… they both picked the treasure. They both chose to leave me, no matter how much I begged them not to. And now you’re doing the same thing. But this time you found the treasure. It’s here—it’s in your grasp—and it’s still not enough for you. No, you can’t just have the treasure, can you? You want it all to yourself. All of the credit, the glory.”

“What are you talking about?” Rafe says. “This is ours. We worked for this."

“No,” Sabina shakes her head. “This is your moment, not ours. It stopped being ours years ago. You can’t have it all, Rafe. You can’t have me and the treasure, not like this. I love you, I do, but I can’t do this. I can’t stand by and watch you be consumed by your hatred and jealousy.”

Slowly, he lowers the blade.

“I want you to pick me,” she says. “For once in my life, I want somebody to choose me. Only me. Please, I don’t want to lose you. Don’t make me lose you. Don’t let me lose somebody else I love.”

Rafe releases his grip on the sword, dropping the blade. He reaches for her injured arm and, gently, pulls it away from his chest. A frown on his face, he examines the wound before turning around to look at her.

Sabina blinks up at him, relieved.

“I’m sorry,” he whispers. “I’m so sorry.”

Slightly dizzy, Sabina leans into his body, pressing her forehead into the croak of his neck. “I know,” she says. “I know.” Too weak to stand any longer, she fully collapses into Rafe.

“Hey,” Rafe says, grabbing onto her. “Hey, honey? Honey, you okay?”

“I—”

Her words are interrupted by an explosion.

And within moments, the burning room is flooded with water.

…

The world is warm, comfortable. A light breeze tickles her nose and cheeks. In the distance, a woman laughs and children giggle. Sabina opens her eyes to the view of sunlight beaming at her through an open window. Her eyes shift, just a sliver, over to the left.

Sam is sitting there, slightly hunched over in his chair. His eyes are focused down towards his hands, down at a ring held between his fingers.

The ring he had given her.

“Hey,” Sabina says. It barely comes out as a whisper.

Sam jerks his head up. “Bina?”

She blinks, beginning the process of waking up. And that’s when she realizes that this environment is unfamiliar to her. She’s surrounded by plain, white walls. And the smell of sanitizer fills her nostrils. “Where… where am I? Where’s Rafe?”

When she tries to sit up in the bed, Sam jumps out of his chair and places his hands on her stomach and shoulder. “You’re in the hospital,” he says. “Rafe had to step out, handle some of your paperwork, but he’ll be back soon.”

“Is he okay?”

“Yeah, he’s fine. Don’t worry.”

“Wait,” Sabina says. “Are you okay? Is Nate okay? The—the explosion—oh, my god—”

“Everyone is fine, Bina. Just lay down.”

“But—”

“Lay down,” Sam says.

Sabina nods and relaxes back into the bed.

After taking a few deep breathes to calm her racing heart, she turns to look at Sam. “My ring,” she points at the object that’s still in his hands. “What…”

Sam sighs and rubs the back of his neck. “I didn’t think you would still have it,” he says. He leans forward, placing the ring on the bedside table. “Not after all of these years.”

“It was all I had left of you,” Sabina confesses. “I couldn’t bring myself to get rid of it.”

Sam gives her a small smile.

“Besides,” she says, “it looks like you stole my birds."

He squints his eyes, confused. “What?”

The woman lifts her hand off the bed, pointing a finger at the birds tattooed on the left side of Sam’s neck.

“Oh, yeah,” he chuckles. A faint blush sprouts across his cheeks. “Yeah… Got it in prison. I didn’t know if I was ever going to see you again—I just—I thought it would be nice to have.”

“Nice to have, huh?”

“Your husband wasn’t too thrilled when he put the dots together.” Sam leans back in his chair, arms folded across his chest. “You know, matching tats and all. Wouldn’t shut up about how he’s married to you.”

“That sounds like Rafe,” Sabina laughs.

“Still can’t believe you’re an Adler now,” Sam says.

“Hewitt-Adler, actually. I hyphenated. Couldn’t quite let go of the family name, I suppose.”

Sam hums. “A lot changed when I was away.”

“Yeah,” Sabina agrees. “Things are different now.”

“Did you mean what you said at Libertalia?” Sam asks. “About us only being together because of Avery’s treasure?”

“Sam,” she whispers.

“Do you really believe that I would’ve just left you if we never found that treasure? Did you think that I didn’t love you?”

“Our relationship was… Everything happened so fast. It really was a bit of whirl-wind romance, wasn’t it?” Sabina says. “One day, I’m following a strange man into the dirtiest hotel room that I have ever seen. And then, with the blink of an eye, I’m having secret rendezvous with him whenever we can find an excuse to ditch his brother. Between chasing clues and traveling the world, where was the time for me to realize your feelings? How could I have known that you loved me? When you never told me those words? When it was clear that your priority would always be the treasure? I couldn’t compete with that, Sam.”

“Bina—”

“The answer,” she interrupts, “it was going to be yes. Yes, I would run away with you.”

Sam reaches out to hold Sabina’s hand. “I’ve never stopped thinking about you, Bina.”

“Answer me honestly, Sam,” she says. “Back on Avery’s ship, if you had been in Rafe’s place, would you have picked me?”

“Of course,” he responds, without hesitation. “Of course I would choose you.”

Sabina smiles at him, but her eyes are sad.

Longing to know what life would have looked like, had she been able to spend the past fifteen years with Sam.

“You have to let go,” she says. “The girl you love, it’s not the same person that I am now. You care about Sabina from fifteen years ago. The Sabina that… loved a life of adventure, with you. I think, if you had asked, she would have done anything for you. But the person you’re looking at now, she’s already let you go. I don’t know if I could love you again, not the way I used to, not the way you want me to.”

Sam sighs, “I know.”

“Hey,” she squeezes his hand. “We found the treasure, though. At least we accomplished something, even if it took a decade and a half.” Sabina turns her head to look at the beside table, focusing her gaze on the medallion. “I solved it, you know.”

“Really?” Sam raises an eyebrow and picks up the necklace. “When?”

“A few years ago.”

“What did it tell you?”

“Why don’t you keep it,” Sabina says. “Keep it and figure it out for yourself.”

“Are you sure? You parents—”

“Probably never even found it, if we’re being honest. I bet they stole it from someone. We’re all thieves, aren’t we?” She chuckles. “I’ve carried it around for so long, clutching onto terrible memories. I need to move on with my life. I don’t care what you end up doing with it, but please, just take it. I don’t want it, not anymore.”

Sam nods and slips the object into his pocket. “You gonna give me a hint on how to solve it?”

“You’re going to want a lot of red wine."

The door to the room slides open, startling them.

“Get away from her,” a voice growls.

Sam jumps away from Sabina, hands held up in the air. “Okay, okay,” he says. “Jesus, we were just having a conversation.”

“Rafe,” Sabina smiles and attempts to sit up.

“Hey there, honey,” he walks up to the side of her bed and reaches for her hand. Rafe turns his head to look at Sam. “You can go now.”

“Are you kidding me? She just woke up.”

“Yeah,” Rafe says, “and now that she’s awake, we don’t need you here.”

“Oh, come on—”

“Get out,” Rafe snaps.

“Alright,” Sam responds. “I’ll just… go outside for a smoke.”

When Sam exits the room, Rafe directs his attention back to Sabina. “You feeling okay? Does anything hurt?”

“You picked me,” she says, ignoring his questions. “I wasn’t sure if you would.”

“I told you that I wanted to be with you, didn’t I?” Rafe says. “That hasn’t changed. I realize now that I’ve neglected you, but I never meant to make you feel like you weren’t enough for me.”

“You’re not entirely to blame. I should’ve just told you how I felt.” Her breath hitches, and she whispers, “Maybe all of this could have been avoided.”

Rafe shakes his head. “I’m not sure if I would have listened to you at any other moment.”

“But in the end, you listened. And right now, that’s all that matters,” Sabina smiles.

Her husband sits down on the edge of the hospital bed. “Where do we go from here?” Rafe asks, pushing strands of hair away from Sabina’s face.

She hums, enjoying his touch. “Do you remember our wedding day? How we hid in the dressing room’s bathroom during the reception?”

“Yeah,” he chuckles. “You said you were so tired of talking to an endless parade of strangers.”

“They were all so boring,” she says. “And all they did was congratulate us, before trying to impress you with some bullshit story about their life. I remember being so desperate to get out of that dress.”

“God, I remember all the damn buttons on the back.”

“It took you forever to undo them! I thought I was going to be stuck in that thing for the rest of my life,” Sabina laughs. “It was a very pretty dress, though. A mermaid style. Lots of lace. Oh! And the detachable train. I think I liked it more than the dress I wore for the actual ceremony.”

“I was too busy looking at you,” Rafe admits. “I can’t really remember what the dresses look like anymore.”

“Oh, my god. And your mother!” Sabina exclaims, remembering the night. “Do you remember how we were in the bathroom for so long that she ran around trying to track us down?”

Rafe laughs, “And she almost walked in, right as I got the dress off.”

“I had to throw my body against the door to keep it shut. Told her that I just needed a few minutes to myself. And then she asked if I had seen you—”

“—And you told her that I was probably out in the gardens.”

“We escaped through a window, didn’t we?”

“Did we?”

“I think so,” she says. “When your mother left, we walked out of the bathroom. I told you that I wanted to leave, start the honeymoon a little early, so you pulled a robe off of one of the chairs.”

“And then we climbed through the window,” Rafe says, nodding his head. “And we sprinted to the car.”

“I don’t think your mother ever really forgave me for that.”

“I think she was more upset with me, to be honest.”

“We need to work on our marriage,” Sabina says. “No more lying. No more secrets. We need to be open, to communicate, like we used it. We used to have so much fun, didn’t we, babe? I think we can be those people again.”

“I think so, too,” he agrees.

“But first,” Sabina grabs the front of his shirt, pulling him towards her. Brushing her lips against his, she says, “Let’s go back to Copenhagen. Relive those honeymoon memories.”

“Sounds like a good idea,” Rafe whispers.

a/n: thank you so much for reading this! if you enjoyed this work, please consider reblogging this story. i am a very small fanfic author and every reblog really does help in giving me exposure to potential new readers. however, i do also appreciate any likes or comments you’re willing to give.

again, this is not the end of the road for sabina, rafe, or sam! i have one-shots planned in the future, but currently there is no timeframe for when any of them will be posted. you may want to consider bookmarking the masterlist (linked near the beginning of this post), so you can check back in the future.

Twitter: VostaraFics

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