"Don't you think that's a little bit of a reach?" Nathan asked.

"No, I don't. How do you explain them being there on the same night, armed to the teeth, and outnumbering us ten to one? This can't be a coincidence."

"Actually, it could be. This guy's death and his collection were public knowledge. It's only been a couple of weeks since he passed away and the house was vacated. You probably just got unlucky. Besides, you said the wreck was just an accident. Completely unrelated. So, even if it was a setup, you would have gotten away if it wasn't for that." Sam looked unconvinced, but he relaxed.

"I guess you're right. It just seems fishy."

"I agree, but that stuff is behind us," Nathan said. "It's been, what, twenty years, since we've given anyone a reason to come after us."

"I just keep thinking it's my fault," Sam muttered.

"It's not," all three of the others said at the same time.

"Sam, things happen," Elena said. "Sully... he wouldn't have been there if he didn't want to be. He craved the adventure and his age never stopped him. You can't blame yourself."

"Fine, fine! Okay. I get it. I just... can't believe any of this is real. This can't be happening, not to us," Sam said.

"We always got out of anything," Nathan said quietly. "It made us feel invincible. I mean, just look at the three of us. You survived that day at the prison, by some miracle, and 'lena and I both shouldn't have made it out of Tibet but we did. Makes this so much worse."

"You know," Cassie broke in, "this probably won't help, but like, I feel like Sully would've wanted to go out like this. Not getting old and senile and dragging it out, but rather finish his life with a flourish. In the middle of the action, you know. Doing what he loved." Everyone became silent for a few moments and Cassie instinctively shrank back into her chair. Wrong place, wrong time, she thought.

"You're not wrong," Nathan said, furrowing his brow. "He was a bit of an adrenaline junkie in a way only people like us are. He always whined and bitched when I got us into a scrape, but I know he wouldn't have missed it for the world."

"Remember when the four of us were trying to get off Libertalia?" Sam said. He leaned forwards slightly, ignoring the pain in his ribs. "I could hardly keep up with him when we were running across that port town. Wish I had that much energy. I'm the same age now as he was then."

"Tell me about it," Nathan said. "And, God, I've never seen him happier than when he was being held captive in that library in the Amazon. Remember that, 'lena?" He turned to his wife. "He was having the time of his life trying to mislead those mercenaries to buy you and I some time."

"How could I forget?" Elena said, grinning. "I think sometimes he did that stuff just to see if he could get away with it. It was like a game to him."

"Us three could always fight our way out of about anything," Nathan said, "But I've never met someone who could talk his way out of anything. He could have done everything we did, but without a gun in his hand. Jesus, I'm not even sure how many of the stories he told us were true." And with that, the four of them laughed for the first time in days.

**********

Their conversation lasted longer than they planned, and Sam grew visibly tired. It was the most he had interacted with anyone since before the accident, and their visit, along with the emotions that it had caused, had taken a toll on him. Elena was the first to catch on, and said,

"Hey, Sam, we should probably let you rest and anyways, it's late and we're all pretty darn jet-lagged."

"Oh, c'mon, Elena, I'm ready to party, can't you tell?" Sam said, yawning as he finished the sentence. "But if you guys need to go to bed, I suppose I'll be fine."

"You idiot. You need it more than we do," Nathan grinned. "We'll have lots of time tomorrow and until you're good to go."

"Oh, I know, little brother. I can't wait to be the invalid living on your couch for the next month," Sam replied.

"Who said anything about that? You're a grown man. We were just gonna turn you out on the streets. You'll be fine." Nathan waved his hand dismissively.

"Nathan, has anyone ever told you that you're a terrible liar?"

"Enough times I should probably get it tattooed across my forehead. I'll even give you credit. 'You're a terrible liar -Samuel Drake, every year since 1976.'"

**********

The hospital staff estimated about a week's stay for Sam starting the day that he'd woken up. He had suffered a dislocated shoulder and a broken wrist, multiple broken ribs, a nasty concussion, and a gash on his leg that had required an impressive stitching job. The hospital merely wanted to keep him there for observation since his head injury had knocked him out for several days and his wound had a high risk of getting infected.

On their second day in Bangkok, Elena tentatively booked four plane seats back to the States, leaving a week from their arrival date. With roughly five days of time to kill and Sam encouraging them to not waste their time in the city, they spent most of their morning visiting museums and art galleries. However, the three of them found that the sightseeing didn't spark the same excitement that it always had in the past.

Desperate to cheer all of them up, Cassie tried her best to show interest in the exhibits and initiated conversations with her parents about everything. Both Nathan and Elena humored her, every time dropping their grave dispositions to discuss whatever artifact she had point out. Nevertheless, whenever she went off to look at something and turned back to them, she would catch them engrossed in hushed conversations that she guessed had nothing to do with the displays.

About the same time every afternoon they went to see Sam. By the middle of their second visit, the small talk was waning. Without a word, Nathan got up and disappeared out the door. He returned fifteen minutes later.

"I checked out the gift shop, and whaddya know?" he said, entering the room and tossing a pack of cards onto the foot of the bed.

Cassie seated herself cross-legged on the end of the bed, facing Sam, and Nathan and Elena got as close as they could from their chairs on either side. Using the bed as their table, she dealt them a game of BS. Over the next few afternoons, they learned how to play several games like Rummy and Pinochle and revisited old family favorites like Slap.

The hospital cleared Sam to leave a day earlier than they expected, and, in a rush, Elena changed their flights to that night. She managed to get them two pairs of seats in the back rows of a 767. Cassie and Sam paired up, happy to spend the long flights together so that Nathan and Elena both could work and sleep.

After their original conversation in the hospital, talking about what had happened felt taboo. Maybe it was because there was nothing more to be said. Or, on the contrary, in classic Drake fashion, none of them wanted to talk about their feelings. To Cassie that seemed more accurate.

Being around Sam had certainly raised their spirits over the past week. He seemed determined to do just that; his attitude was overly cheerful for the circumstances and she knew he had a habit of using humor to distract from his real emotions. It was an incredibly effective façade. Cassie was desperate to keep from spiraling inwards as she had done initially and she latched onto the constant jokes and stories that poured from him. Nathan and Elena remained quiet and closed off, but they seemed to appreciate the entertainment as well.

On the plane, Sam and Cassie watched movies when they weren't sleeping, and although he hadn't seen most of the movies that she showed him, they chatted quite in depth about each one. Once they got shushed by one of the air hostesses, which made them laugh even louder and earned them a glare from both the hostess and Elena, who turned around to poke her head over the top of the seat.

"Some people just don't know how to have a good time," Sam whispered to Cassie after Elena finished reprimanding them in hushed tones.

"Tell me about it. Mom never lets me have any fun. She's the most anti-fun person I know,"Cassie replied, and promptly almost cracked up when she heard a snort from her father's seat. Between the seats, she saw Elena reach over to whack his arm with her hand.

**********