Uncharted: A Thief's Legacy

Chapter II - Carry On

A full day was much too long for Sam to be alone with his thoughts. Sure, the nurses coming in and out of his room every hour or so helped distract him, but since none of them spoke much English and his Thai was...rusty, to say the least, conversation was lacking. Sam's thoughts swam in his head, circling obsessively around the events of the past couple of days.

While Victor Sullivan wasn't a beloved father figure to Sam in the way he was to Nathan, the two were still close. As the Drake's oldest and closest friend, Sully might as well have been a blood relative. For the better part of two decades, he and Sam had shared a home-base; a house on the outskirts of Havana, Cuba. The two even worked the occasional job together. While they had their differences when Sam was young, the two had come to a mutual understanding in the years after Sam's reappearance in his brother's life. The loss hit Sam hard.

On top of the grief and guilt that already threatened to consume him, Sam was terrified to see his brother. As difficult and shocking as Sully's death was for Sam, he could only imagine it felt ten times worse to Nathan. The younger Drake brother had spent fifteen years with Sully that Sam had completely missed out on. While Sam had done his best to raise his brother, he knew that it was Sully who was responsible for who Nathan had become. Sam had encouraged Nathan to chase treasures and fantasies that usually led to their incarceration and had been absent for large chunks of Nathan's childhood. After Nathan and Sully had met, the kid had rarely left Sully's side and only ever did so at Sam's prompting.

Sam had dreaded calling up his brother with the news; that had been difficult enough. However, he knew that when Nathan walked into the room in a matter of hours, there will have been time for the shock to wear off and Nathan could say anything he wanted to, right to Sam's face. Already, he played the scenario over and over in his head, trying to figure out what he wanted to say. Would Nathan understand that this was the cost of living this life, or would he loathe Sam for causing this? Sam didn't want to sit there and defend himself as if clearing his name was all he cared about, but on the other hand, he needed it to be apparent that this hadn't been his intention. Nathan had to understand that Sam would never have purposefully put Sully and himself in danger, right?

Sam knew that his brother was a patient and forgiving man, especially when it came to Sam himself, but he feared that this would be the end of Nathan's trust in him.

**********

Cassie curled up against the window on the plane. She wasn't fully aware of what transpired around her; the past day had been a blur. While the initial reaction to the news had passed, the reality of it hadn't hit her yet. For the moment, she simply felt empty. Nothing her parents said could get a response out of her that wasn't short and lackluster. She had the feeling that she was existing, but not truly living. She moved through the world involuntarily and did what she was programmed to do.

Right now, she was programmed to follow her parents onto a plane to Thailand. They had a travel-filled twenty-four hours ahead of them, with stops in New York City and Dubai before they would land in Bangkok. Sam knew they were coming; Nathan had called him while they were in the airport.

Long plane rides were nothing new to Cassie. She had been tagging along on her parent's trips for her entire life. In fact, she had spent the majority of her childhood overseas with them, homeschooling and taking classes online. Up until this point, flying had always been associated with the prospect of a new adventure.