"Aren't you glad Elena convinced me to bring you home?" Nathan asked, lugging a couple of suitcases through the front door.

"Yeah, this is so much better than the sidewalk," Sam said, lowering himself gingerly onto one of the couches. He winced a bit.

"Sam, your house is nicer than ours," Cassie said, rolling her eyes.

"True; that's what it's like when you don't have kids or dogs, isn't that right, little brother? You'd be rich if it wasn't for this troublemaker." He shot a teasing grin at Cassie. "But seriously, thank you all for letting me crash here. Getting around by myself right now would be...interesting."

"Take all the time you need, Sam," Elena said. "Seriously. You've been through hell and I can't imagine having to return to an empty house after sharing with him for so long."

"Speaking of which," Nathan said, "I keep meaning to say. As soon as you're ready, I'll go with you and we gotta go through his stuff. I won't make you tackle the house by yourself."

"Thanks, Nathan," Sam said jadedly. He leaned forward and rubbed his face with his hands. "Goddammit, I don't even want to think about that right now. I'm too damn tired."

"Dad, can I go with you guys when you do that?" Cassie asked.

"Maybe, we'll se-" Nathan started but Elena cut him off.

"No, hon. Let Dad and Sam do that together. You and I don't need to intrude."

"But Mom!" Cassie exclaimed. "He was family to us, too! C'mon, I just want to help!"

"Elena, honey, it's okay," Nathan broke in. "She can come if she wants."

"Nate, we both know you two need to say goodbye. Cassie and I can let you do that. Please, can we not have this discussion right now?"

"I agree with Nathan, Elena," said Sam.

"Sam, I'm sorry, but this does not involve you," Elena said harshly.

"Actually, it does, and I hate to say it, but it's three against one," Sam replied. He leaned back on the couch and put his hands on the back of his head, relaxing. "Let the kid come. Sully was family to all of us, but if you don't want to join, I won't hold it against you."

"Sam, what are you insinuating?" Elena was livid.

"Nothing, Jesus, I'm not saying anything. Just let her say goodbye to her grandpa if that's how she wants to do it. Nathan and I won't stop her. Might help to have her there."

Elena's eyes were watery. Nathan stepped towards her, making a move to put his arm around her shoulders, but Elena jerked away.

"Honey," Nathan sighed, stepping back, "I know this is hard for all of us, but you don't need to baby me and Sam. We can handle it. I know, you're just trying to help."

"Fine," Elena whispered, her voice quivering. "Fine. Okay." She wrapped her arms around herself and took a couple awkward steps backwards, before turning and hurrying out of the room. Cassie, Nathan, and Sam all exchanged tense glances.

"I'll see if I can calm her down," Nathan said after a long moment. He hauled up a couple of their bags and followed Elena.

Cassie sat down next to Sam on the couch and pressed herself up against him.

"How are you holding up, kid?" Sam asked.

"I'm okay, I think. Sam, I'm worried about Dad."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. He's been, like, weirdly calm through...all of this. Like, he got emotional when you called last week, but that was it. I think he's trying to keep it together for Mom and I...and for you."

"I think you're right," Sam said. "It's not like him."

"You know, I'd never seen him cry until your call. Not even when our dog died a few years ago. At least, he didn't in front of me."

"That's impressive. He was a wimpy kid," Sam said. "It's probably for your sake, then."

"But I'm worried." Cassie's lips pressed together in a thin line and her forehead creased in thought.

"What do you want me to do about it?"

"I don't know, Sam. I'm just really concerned. I'm...waiting for him to break, and I hope I still have my dad afterwards."

**********

Five days later, Cassie sat silently on the floor, leaning against her door frame. All the lights in the house were off except the one in their kitchen and a bit of the light shined down the hallway on her. She was relatively sure her mother was asleep; the door to the master bedroom was shut and she hadn't heard Elena's voice. When she had climbed out of bed to get a glass of water, her phone read twelve forty-three AM.

The past few days had been uneventful; she had spent as much time as possible on the beach, and she liked hanging out with Sam. Even with him as laid up as he was, she could get him to come out on the porch and play checkers or chess, and occasionally he would sit on the dock or on the boat and watch her surf.

Now she could hear his and Nathan's hushed voices in the living room. She hadn't caught the beginning of the conversation, but it wasn't hard to catch on.

"Was it this hard with Mom?" Nathan asked.

"Yeah...but I don't think I understood much. I mean, yeah, I was ten, but I wasn't the brightest kid."

"Seriously, Sam."

"Sorry. With Mom it got worse with time 'cause I didn't really know what she had done, you know? Just that she was gone. No one wanted to explain it to me. When I got older it meant more, but it wasn't as fresh."

"God, I wish I could stop understanding this."

"I know. I mean, we were friends but not close like you. I- I can't imagine." There was a lengthy pause.

"Nathan, I hope you know how much you meant to Sully."

"He was the only person who cared about me besides you, for so long." Nathan's voice trembled. If Cassie had been in the room, she would have watched Sam reach over and rub Nathan's back.

"I know. I am so, so grateful that he took care of you when I wasn't there. I'm not sure you woulda still been around when I got out, if it wasn't for him."

"I never told you about Cartagena, did I?" Nathan asked. Cassie's ears perked up. "When I was like fifteen and I stole Drake's ring?"

"No, I don't think so? The day you met Sully?"

"Yeah. I- I ended up on a roof at gunpoint. I had a gun, but I'd never shot anyone before, and I couldn't do it. Sully got there just in time and killed the guy from behind. I would have been gone, right then and there, without him."

"Jesus Christ, Nathan."

The brothers were quiet for a second and Cassie had time to think. She knew her dad had been in some pretty dire situations, but to think that way back at fifteen years old, it all could have ended for him? He wouldn't have properly met Sully, he was more than fifteen years from meeting Elena, and who knows what would have happened to Sam. Cassie shuddered.

"He told me once," Sam said, "that he never wanted kids, but you and I were like sons to him. And I know he thought that about you long before he felt that way about me."

"He told me that once, before you came back," Nathan replied. "He didn't want to admit it, though."

"Yeah...you made the old man soft." There was another long silence.

"God, Sam, I knew we'd be here eventually, but I wasn't ready. I- I wasn't ready."

Nathan Drake broke. Sobs racked his body. At a loss of what to do, Sam did the only decent thing he could have and drew his little brother into his arms. Cassie was glad she couldn't see her father, and as she noiselessly lifted herself from the floor and closed her door, she could hear Sam whispering, over and over,

"I'm sorry, little brother, I'm so sorry."

**********

They didn't talk much at breakfast the next day. Elena seemed a bit confused, but she didn't question it, and after a while she stopped trying to make conversation. Cassie did her best to act normal; she didn't want her dad and Sam thinking she overheard anything. She ate quickly and tried to distract herself by helping Elena with the dishes.

A knock on the door startled them all. It was hard to find the beach house if you didn't know where you were going, and their only visitor was occasionally the FedEx truck. Nathan got up to answer it.

A man was standing on their porch. He looked to be in his late thirties and vaguely Hispanic.

"Hi, uh, is Sam Drake here? He said he was staying around here with family."

"I'll be damned," Sam grinned, getting up from the table. He limped towards Nathan and the stranger. "Eli, what are you doing here?"

"Came to visit, buddy," Eli said. "I just feel terrible about what happened. Can't help but feel responsible, you know?"

"Well, I appreciate it," Sam said. "Yeah, about that...guys? This is Elijah Douglas. He was my contact for this last job."

**********