They could hear a deep, British voice speaking. From what they could tell, listening part way through the conversation, they were going on about a trade deal that had gone south.

"How many are there?" Nathan mouthed to Sam. Sam poked his head out and then whipped back into place. He held up three fingers and mouthed back,

"At least."

"Armed?" Sam shrugged. Nathan shifted his weight and Sam saw him take a deep breath. The conversation seemed to be wrapping up. Nathan held up one finger to Sam, then raised a second, slowly counting to three. However, before he raised a third finger, Nathan froze.

"And, boys, one more thing before you go," Charles Marlowe said, his voice suddenly growing louder. "Let's take care of our eavesdroppers." Sam pressed himself against the wall beside him, almost as though he could become a part of it. He locked eyes with Nathan, who was looking equally panicked and had one arm across Cassie's body, holding her behind him.

Sam's only warning was Nathan's expression changing and his eyes widening suddenly; someone grabbed Sam from behind and yanked him upright. Sam felt the cold, hard barrel of a gun pressed against the nape of his neck and resisted the urge to fight in fear of being shot. His captor half dragged out into the open to stand face to face with Charles, and two other men on either side of him.

"And the brother?" Charles asked casually. "Where is the other one? We can do this the easy way, or the hard way. And let me clarify, the easy way is to just shoot Sam. Your choice."

"Let him go." Nathan slid out from his hiding spot with his pistol already cocked and aimed at Charles. The other man just looked amused.

"That's your play? You shoot, so does he. Is Sam really worth less than my life?" Nathan looked over at Sam, and Sam drew in a breath and nodded once. Adrenaline coursed through Nathan's veins. Of course, Sam would tell him to take the shot.

"Why Sam? Why not me?" Nathan asked tersely, trying to stall. For what exactly, he didn't know, but he did know that Charlie was in his ear, picking up every word. "Sam doesn't even know you. Hell, neither do I."

"You knew my mother," Charles said. "Katherine Marlowe? I believe you were familiar with each other."

"Fairly," Nathan said. "Then why go after Sam and not me? I killed her, not him. I'm the one who's responsible. You can leave my family out of this."

"Because I didn't want to kill you, not really. I needed you to know what it was like to lose," Charles said. "And killing your friend wasn't enough."

"You mean Sully?" Sam said. "That was a car wreck. If that was your men at the house that night, they didn't get him. We got away."

"Are you kidding?" Charles sneered. "You think that was a coincidence? Merely some bad luck? We had contingencies if you got away. I was driving that truck. The only disappointing part is I didn't kill you, too." The room fell silent as his words hit like a bomb. Nathan could only gape in silence. His hands began to quiver and he fought to steady his pistol.

"I- I was right," Sam said, staring at the ground. "I knew we were set up. Who was it? How did you find us? Sully and I aren't amateurs."

"It wasn't hard, with Eli feeding me your information," Charles drawled. "Knew right where to find you." Sam's jaw dropped and he locked eyes with Nathan. His brother's pale face and pained expression made Sam feel uneasy. He had missed something that Nathan knew, but what? Sam felt the grip of the person holding him hostage shift, and in his ear, they whispered,

"I'm sorry, Sam." Elijah's voice trembled.

**********

Two Years Earlier

"It's come to my attention that we have a mole," Charles Marlowe announced, gazing around the room. Elijah caught his breath, and looked around at the other men, trying to seem as surprised and concerned as they did. Marlowe was already staring at him.

"I knew it couldn't be a coincidence, or bad luck, when my contacts started dropping like flies," he continued. "Little did I know, we were already infiltrated by one of the most powerful men in the world. You see, power often comes from who you know, and the network you have built really is impressive, Elijah."

Desperately, Eli tried to keep his cool. He shrugged.

"With great power comes great responsibility," he quipped. "Couldn't just stand by while you traded intelligence and started pickin' people off."

"Maybe you would have reconsidered if you had known the consequences of going toe to toe with me," Marlowe said. "You see, no one gets to our positions without bending some rules. There's plenty you could expose me for, and maybe you've already tried. The only difference now is that you're standing alone in a room full of my armed men."

"I agree, you have the upper hand," Eli said, glancing around. Nearly every man in the room had a weapon trained on him. "What are you going to do, shoot me?"

"I'm not an ignorant man. I admire your skills. To get to where you are at such a young age is extraordinary, to say the least. However, I did a little research, and your methods have been..." Marlowe drew in air through his teeth and thought for a moment, "questionable. I see no problem with it, but others might."

"Oh, oh, I see," Eli said. "You're going to get me thrown in jail?"

"That is a possibility, though, not one that I want." The Brit clicked his tongue.

"What do you want?" Eli asked, already knowing what the answer would be.

"I want you. Our skills, our contacts, together, are unbeatable." Marlowe walked towards him; his hand outstretched in an offer to shake.

"You think I'm going to drop everything and work for you?" Eli gaped, backing up a step. "You've just said I was trying to take you down." Marlowe dropped his hand.

"Were you?" he asked calmly.

"I will neither confirm nor deny that." Marlowe chuckled.

"I think that if you refuse, jail time will be the least of your worries. Of course, it should concern you that I could have you locked up tomorrow. However, more so than that, I advise you to consider my offer if not for yourself then for the sake of your wife." Eli's whole body tensed.

"Leave her out of this." Marlowe knew he'd hit a nerve and he smiled almost triumphantly.

"I always get what I want, Elijah, or people die. How do you think the two of us got here? I require your services, in exchange for her life and your freedom. Choose wisely."

**********

"You betrayed me. You got Sully killed." Sam's jaw clenched, and he didn't dare move a muscle other than to speak.

"Oh, yes, he's very sorry, he never meant for it to go this far," Charles said, rolling his eyes and giving a toss of his hand. "This really is fun."

"I could kill you right now," Nathan said, still staring down the length of his pistol in Marlowe's direction.

"And yet, you won't. You value your brother's life more than that," Charles replied. "That being said, I'm tired of drawing this out. I wanted Sam's life and your friend's death was just a bonus. However, I never expected to have you in front of me, so I might as well just end everything now." He seemed so nonchalant, like this was just a normal business deal and they were trading something less valuable than lives.

"Whatever you're about to do, just hang on a second," Sam said, grasping at straws.

"What, I'll regret it? No, I don't think I will. Eli, you know what to do. Just don't hurt the girl." Marlowe turned towards the exit with his cronies following and Sam braced himself, but he realized the tip of the gun no longer pressed into his neck. At the same time, two shots went off and Sam elbowed Eli as hard as he could in what he guessed was Eli's stomach. Marlowe almost threw himself on the ground to avoid Nathan's shot and though it grazed his shoulder, he scrambled up and ran. Nathan Drake dropped like a stone.

Elijah let out a gasp and staggered backwards from Sam's punch. As he let go of Sam's shirt, Sam wheeled around and grabbed the arm holding the gun, and with his other hand he landed a punch to Eli's face. Because Eli was disoriented and Sam was much larger than him, it wasn't hard for Sam to slam him to the ground. Eli's head made contact with the floor and he didn't move again.

Sam jumped up and spun around. He spotted Nathan laying on the ground and sprinted towards him.

"Nathan? Talk to me," Sam gasped, sliding to his knees next to his brother.

"Sam? Dad?" He heard Cassie's voice behind him as she crept out of her hiding spot. "Dad?" Her voice sounded wilder. Instantly she bolted to Sam's side.

Sam already had his jacket off and he pressed it fervently onto the gunshot wound.

"Dad? Hey, Dad, wake up, please," Cassie choked out. "Sam, is he gonna be okay?"

"I- I don't know," Sam said. "Charlie, are you getting this? Nathan's down. It's bad. We need help." Blood oozed out of the wound in Nathan's chest at an alarming rate and Sam pressed harder.

"I'm callin' fo' help, mate," came Charlie's voice.

"Cassie, feel his pulse," Sam instructed. Cassie's hands shook, but she didn't hesitate to put two fingers under Nathan's jaw.

"I- I don't think I can feel anything," she said.

"Shit. Hold this, tightly," Sam said, and when she had her hands on his jacket, he checked for a pulse himself.

"Shit. Shit, Nathan, stay with us," he said desperately, but he already knew what had happened. "Fuck." There was no pulse, Nathan's chest failed to rise. Sam couldn't find any sign of life.

More than likely not, Nathan died before he hit the ground.

He heard Charlie's voice in his ear again.

"Sam, you need to get out o' there."

Sam had to make a decision, and right now, he had Cassie to worry about. The two of them wouldn't survive much longer if they didn't move quickly.

"Cassie, sweetheart, Charlie says we need to leave, now." He tried to keep his tone level.

"Sam, we can't leave, we need to get help!" she cried.

"Cas, we can't help him." Sam grabbed her shoulders and started to stand, pulling her with him. "We need to go."

"Sam, no." Cassie let out a sob. "Please, no, we can't leave him."

"Sweetheart, he's gone. I have to get you out right now. Please, come with me." His voice began to break as he begged her to follow. Feeling like he had no other choice, Sam hauled her to her feet and grabbed her arm.

"Cassie, come on." He glanced around the room one more time. Elijah remained unconscious, and Nathan's body lay lifeless. Blood pooled around him, leaking from the exit wound in his back. "Cassie, I'm sorry. Come on."

Dragging Cassie away from her father was the hardest thing Sam had ever done. The desire to keep Cassie alive was the only thing fueling him, and he tried to keep his mind focused on that as they ran.

**********