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Next time a bunch of smirking locals tell them the recent rain may make the trip up the mountain 'a little difficult' Nate swears he's going to make Sully take notice, even if he has to hold the man's precious cigars hostage. Maybe...when it wasn't their first job together and he wasn't desperate to avoid Sully having second thoughts. With Sam in prison for another 18 months it would be back on the streets, alone, if Sully got tired of him.
Instead all Nate had done was turn to Sully and shrug his shoulders, trying to indicate his misgivings. It didn't have the desired effect.
"Don't worry kid." Sully's grin and hand wave hadn't inspired much confidence, as it reminded Nate entirely too much of Sam whenever he had to talk his way out of trouble. "We leave the jeep here and hike our way up, less chance of being spotted while we case the place."
The walk up the steep trail was kinda nice though, Nate admitted grudgingly. The air was crisp as they got above the petrol fumes, the sun wasn't hot enough to make him sweat; he almost felt like he could start to relax, that maybe this new arrangement wasn't going to crash and burn.
The feeling lasts about as long as it takes to round the next bend.
"Son of a...!"
Sully's frustrated growl speaks for both of them, Nate being uncharacteristically lost for words. He'd imagined some rocks in the road or maybe a spill of earth. Instead the landslide has torn a yawning gap in the path ahead, a deep chasm that looks even wider across a trail that would have been only just broad enough for a jeep.
"Guess that's it then," he says, scuffing his foot in the dust. "Unless you know another way up to that castle?"
"Hold your horses Nate." Sully is pacing way too close to the edge for comfort, glancing thoughtfully from one side of the gap to the other. "I think I can make that jump."
"Are you crazy?"
"No more than usual." He tossed a stone at the other side, nodding decisively when no loose earth pattered down. "The footing looks sound, near as I can tell. I've jumped further between rooftops, as long as the prize on the other side was worth it."
"We don't even know if there's anything up there! This was just a rumour you overheard in a dive bar when you were meant to be hustling pool and...you're not listening to me at all are you?" Nate petered out as Sully took some measured paces back and then made a running jump. He barely made it, his back foot hanging sickening over nothing until forward momentum tipped him into a sprawling stumble forward and safe.
"See," Sully said, turning and dusting himself off with a slightly shaky-looking grin. "Nothing to it."
"Yeah, you're a total genius." Nate gingerly stepped close enough to peer down the long drop. "If you barely made it what do you expect me to do, grow wings?" He looked up to see Sully standing braced on the other side, one hand outstretched.
"No problem kid, you jump and I'll catch you. Trust me."
Nate freezes. He wants to jump, tries to make his body move forward, mentally screams at himself to stop over-thinking this and just listen to the man who has turned his whole life upside down for some cocky street brat...but he still finds himself backing away from the edge. He can see the reassuring look on Sully's face shifting into something closer to exasperation but, as much as that feels like ice in the pit of his stomach, he can still hear Sam's voice echoing in his head.
"We're the only family either of us is ever gonna have, Nathan. Anyone who isn't family will always let you down."
"I'm not getting any younger, are you making this jump or am I picking you up on the way back?"
Ok, maybe he read Sully's expression wrong, the tone is definitely more worried than exasperated. Nate's brain works overtime, disarming grin firmly in place as he hopes (not for the first time) that he can talk his way out of trouble. "Hey, I'm just trying to save your back old man. Why jump a gap if I don't have to?"
He looked up and to the left, where the side of the hill rose so sharply it was like their path was a ledge jutting out of a larger cliff-face. Sure enough, the gap left by the landslide narrowed further up. "Up there," he pointed, "there's plenty of hand-holds either side, I'll be across in no time."
"Or you could try the option that isn't gonna get you killed!" Sully's voice gets more urgent as Nate takes a grip on the rock and begins to make his way slowly upwards. "Now who's acting crazy...seriously Nate, stop, I'm not joking around with you."
He can mostly tune it out, that and the internal voice saying how much of an idiot he is. His focus is narrowed to each foothold taking his weight and the handhold just beyond his reach, another reason climbing has always meant escape in all senses of the word. Even so, he can't suppress his natural tendency to run his mouth off. "You aren't making it any easier to concentrate you know. You'd feel like an asshole if I slipped and fell to my death because you were yelling at me."
"I'd feel like...I think asshole is defined as the person trying to give someone else a heart attack!"
Nate ignored him, sizing up the gap to his right. It looked narrow enough to swing himself across, if he didn't mind a split-second where he would be jumping between handholds, there was a small outcropping on the far side which would be perfect to cling to while he found a new foothold.
"Kid, just be careful ok."
He managed to swallow any sarcastic remark, settling for a terse nod before he braced and flung himself sideways and over, his fingers reaching for and finding purchase. He had just enough time for a relieved grin over his shoulder at Sully when he heard the cracking noise. "Oh crap," was all Nate had time to gasp as a chunk of rock came away in his hand, leaving him swinging out precariously into space. His feet scrabbled away at loose dirt and then his grip slipped and he was half falling, half sliding down the side of the rift. A root stripped the skin from his palms as he frantically clutched at anything to arrest his plunge, he knew any minute he would hit something that tipped him away from the side and it would all be over.
When the stop came it was so sudden it took him a minute to realise it. One moment Nate's adrenaline-fueled brain was screaming at him and the next it was struggling to catch up as he hung from an outstretched arm, panting in short gasps for air. He looked up, blinking sweat and grit from his eyes, to see Sully's hand wrapped tight around his wrist.
"I've got you Nate," the older man said, voice tense with effort. He was braced on his other arm, lying almost flat on the path above. "Climb up quick, before anything else gives way."
Nate managed to get a grip on Sully with his free hand, shoes digging in to push as he was hauled up. With a last grunt of effort from both of them he scrambled over the edge, sprawling beside Sully in the dirt as he tried to get his breath back. As he pushed himself into a sitting position he could feel the shakes starting; heart still hammering in his chest he looked back over his shoulder to where dust was still settling. A hand on his shoulder had his head whipping back round, arm raised defensively in front as his mind took too long to remember who it would be.
Sully, crouching in front of him, started to reflexively pull back. In a split-second Nate could feel this distance gaping too, worse than the lurch in his chest when the earth fell away, a tangible wrongness pulling at the raw place inside him that only got bigger each time his brother was dragged away in handcuffs. He barely knew he was moving until his arms were around Sully, face turned into the hollow of the man's shoulder. He felt Sully tense, frozen for what felt like forever until a sigh of warm air ruffled his hair. Strong arms encircled his back, he could feel Sully's voice rumbling through his chest as he spoke softly.
"It's ok kid, I caught you, you're fine. You ever pull that again and I'll tie you to a tree, but for now you're fine."
Nate mumbled something into Sully's shirt, then pulled back and dusted himself off as he unsteadily got to his feet. "I guess your grip is strong enough for me to try the jump on the way back then."
Sully accepted the hand Nate offered as he stood as well, keeping hold long enough to cuff him lightly across the head. "You'll be lucky if I don't throw you across, that or just leave you here and save myself the headache."
Nate ducked his head, the beginnings of a smile faltering and falling off his face. He turned to continue up the trail, trying not to hunch his shoulders.
"Nate."
Sully's voice was stern enough to stop him in his tracks, but he didn't trust his expression enough to look back. "Don't worry about it Sully, I messed up again and you got me out of it. If I can manage to pull my weight before you get sick of me I'll count myself lucky." He started walking again, but only made it a few paces before something hit him in the back of the head. Turning incredulously he saw Sully tossing another small stone from hand to hand. "What the hell?"
"You keep slinking away like that and I'll throw another one." Sully paused and raked a hand through his hair, obviously searching for the words he needed. "I don't know how to make up for whatever crap started you pushing people away but I know you don't have to stay on your own. I meant it when I said this was the start of a friendship, if we find we don't get along then fine, but I'm not gonna leave you behind and you need to stop thinking you can only rely on yourself."
Nate swallowed against the catch in his throat. "Easy as that, huh?"
"Easy is a desk job kid, partnership takes practice. Still want to give this a go?"
Nate felt something lighten in his chest as he walked back. "Hi, I'm Nate Drake and I'm an idiot," he said flippantly, holding out his hand.
Sully's answering shake was firm. "Sully Sullivan, I'll try not to hold that against you. Want to loot a Norman castle?"
"It'll pass the time."
The two of them continued up the trail, unconsciously falling into step with each other as they went.