Universe: Uncharted

Characters/Themes: Nate, Sully, Talbot, Talbot's men, and & eventually Chloe and Charlie; hurt/comfort, family, friendship, revenge (of sorts?)

Note: So I was playing Chateu and the bit where Talbot shoots Nate, just grazing his shoulder, interested me. And I began to wonder... what would have happened if Talbot had just lost his patient and properly shot Nate? Sully will be pissed to hell, that's what. I also took the giant spiders away from the story in this, because, well, firstly idk how they'd get away from them while Nate's been shot, and also I just don't like them.
Edit after finishing: This... got way out of hand. But I like it. Dammit Nate how many people told you this job is going to be the death of you? idk how the rest of the game pans out after this tbh, don't ask me, I'm NOT doing a series! Though it was kinda tempting as I was writing this. But I'm not, because it's a lot of stuff and I just don't have the perseverance. But here's this AU for chapters 6 & 7: Chateau and Stay in the Light.

"Let's hope the other half is in Syria."

"Yeah," Sully agreed, "and that Cutter and Chloe can find it."

Nate grimaced at that but didn't comment, and they both headed back to the, well, 'doorway' of the tomb, ducking underneath the wall. Only to be met with the sight of Talbot and two of his men standing at the entrance of the crypt, a torch in Talbot's hands and all guns pointed directly at them.

It took a second for Nate and Sully to react; they instinctively reached for their guns, but Talbot said loudly, "Ah. I wouldn't recommend that."

"Shit," Sully cursed as Nate sighed in annoyance and they both glared in the direction of the mercenaries, who kept their machine guns steady. Talbot smirked at the situation.

"Nice work, gentlemen," he said slyly. "Harris, please relieve Mr Drake of the artifact."

The guy on Talbot's left started forward, gun lowered, towards Nate as the treasure hunter took a step forward himself, expression hard, and called mockingly, "yeah, Harris. Come get it."

Sully didn't move as he realised that Nate planned to intercept Harris and get out of the situation. He was sure it wasn't that easy. And sure enough, the second Nate made a move to grab the gun Harris was holding in an attempt to take it off him and get the upper hand, a shot rang out.

It took a moment for him to register and link the shot of Talbot's pistol to the gasp of pain to his right, and by the time he flicked his gaze to Nate, eyes wide, he saw the man, Harris, snatch the artifact out of the kid's hand as Nate stumbled backwards, and collapsed against the wall that hid the room they had just come from.

"Nate!" Sully dropped the torch and immediately knelt at the kid's side, dismissing the men, who drew back silently and exited the room, Talbot shutting the door behind them.

If either of the fortune hunters had been close enough, they would have heard the sly whisper of, "See you in hell, Drake. You get what you deserve," as the door fell shut and pushed them into mostly darkness apart from the dimming of the torch on the ground.

But neither Nate nor Sully were in a position to worry about Talbot's parting words. Nate pulled his hands away from being pressed against the wound, panting harshly, and hissed "shit," when he made out the blood covering the skin, not to mention his top.

"Okay, kid, okay. Where'd he get you?" Sully asked, voice shaking as he pushed his fear down. Look after Nate, he'll make it through, then get terrified about how close you came to losing him. Again. Unable to see much, Sully picked up his discarded torch and propped it up on the wall beside Nate, before focusing all his attention on his kid.

He eased Nate's hands away from where they were clasped against the wound near his left shoulder, and tried to examine the gunshot. It was clearly meant to be a fatal shot, but Talbot had just been a little off-course;the bullet had hit Nate just below his left shoulder and, from what Sully could see, had gone straight through the kid's collarbone, shattering it.

Clenching his teeth in an effort to control panic and anger, Sully pressed his hands to the still-bleeding wound, trying to put pressure on it, but he could feel blood trickling through his fingers, continuing to practically pour out of hole, already soaking Nate's shirt. Dammit. Bullet must've hit an artery or something. Well, of course it did, being this close to going right through his heart! Sully berated himself, and grit his teeth again, forcing fear back down.

"Put pressure on it for a second," he said, taking Nate's hand and pressing it against the wound. He chanced a glance at the kid's face; he was too pale and was already losing consciousness, judging by the effort it took him to open his eyes and blink at Sully. "Stay with me, kid. We're gonna get out." Sully swallowed his fear. "I promise."

Nate just nodded tiredly, blinking as he tried to keep his eyes open. Sully quickly unbuttoned and slipped off his outside shirt, leaving his a-little-less-than-comfortably-warm t-shirt, and began tearing a couple of strips off it for bandages. (And again wondered why the hell they didn't bring first aid kits with them, especially where a reckless Nate was involved.)

He pulled Nate's hand away from the wound again and immediately pressed the cloth to it, grimacing as he felt blood already seeping into the material. He pressed it firmly on the bullet hole and tried to ignore the groans of pain that Nate tried to but couldn't quite smother.

The kid huffed in what was supposedly meant to be a laugh, and Sully glanced at him, raising an eyebrow. "If this is fun, I'd hate to see your idea of enjoyment," he commented dryly, in what he hoped was a half-casual voice.

Nate shook his head - trying to convey that wasn't what he was apparently laughing at - hissing in pain as it proved to be a bad move and coughed, breath hitching, before trying for a grin to ease his mentor. The effort was more concerning than reassuring, though, and Sully shushed the kid as he tried to press the cloth further into the wound in hope of stopping the bleeding.

"Good thing you wore a red shirt today," Nate gasped out, cringing as he coughed again and the movement fired pain through his chest and shoulder.

Sully tried to smile at the kid's attempt at humor. "Yeah, well, you know me," he replied, maintaining pressure on the bullet wound. "Always prepared for facing people you've pissed off."

"You piss people off too, y'know," Nate mumbled in reply, his eyes falling shut. Alarmed, Sully took his unhurt shoulder and shook him, maybe a little too forcefully, but the kid was scaring the crap out of him and no way in hell is he letting Nate bleed out in the dark down here.

"Hey, don't pass out on me," he said, but Nate just groaned and didn't open his eyes. "Come on, kid, wake up," Sully said more forcefully, shaking him again. Nate's eyes flickered open and he looked at Sully dazedly.

Sully gave him a strained smile. "C'mon, we gotta get out here. Get you some help."

Coughing again, Nate shook his head, slumping more against the wall as he failed to stay alert. "Nah, it's fine... you get out, I'll - I'll wait here."

"Like hell," Sully replied sternly, and did the only thing he could to bring Nate back to awareness - he pressed more into the wound he was still covering, and winced and muttered "Sorry, kid," as Nate gasped in pain, struggling to sit up, grabbing weakly at Sully's arm to stop the pain.

He glanced around for inspiration, and saw a chink of light by the door - it hadn't been bolted behind the other men as he thought; they still had a way out. Focusing his attention on Nate again, he pressed the kid's hand to the cloth and pushed down, making sure Nate was holding it, and again trying to ignore the choked gasps of pain.

Moving around to Nate's uninjured side, he took the kid's right arm. "Come on, kid. We're gonna get out of here," he muttered, pulling him up as Nate did his best to stand, shaking and weak. He supported him as they moved towards the door, Nate no longer really aware of what they were doing.

"There you go, I gotcha." He kept up a reassurance as he kept Nate standing and kept moving towards the door, blocking everything else out. He was going to get the kid some help; like hell were they deserting this mission here.

He glanced at Nate's too pale face and felt fear grip his heart. "How you holding up, kid? Talk to me," he said in an attempt to keep them moving, keep Nate conscious. They have to get out of here.

"Huh...?" He blinked at Sully, vision faltering. He'd lost too much blood, and he could vaguely feel it still trickling out between his fingers as he held the cloth to his chest. Everything seemed detached and not important, and there was the horrible taste and smell of metal in the air; the scent of death. There wasn't much going back when a wound was fatal.

Sully didn't say anything else, just continued pulling them forward, fear and terror keeping him supporting the kid's weight as Nate continued to fail in being alert. Poor kid was bleeding out, no doubt about it.

How the hell they got out of the goddamn place was a blur. Sully forced Nate to climb the ladder to the laboratory, helping him as much as possible; more or less dragged him through the chateau, doing his best to ignore the smell of smoke coming from nearby that he couldn't pinpoint and didn't even want to think about. Like they needed more problems right now.

Finally, they emerged out of the front door - which had been ominously pulled off its hinges, yet there were no guards in sight - and Sully felt Nate sag more against him, barely aware of anything, barely conscious, barely able to even stand. He stopped and eased the kid down carefully against the gates the outlined the building, crouching beside him, and dared a look at the place they just came from.

Just as well they weren't there any more, because as Sully watched, the roof suddenly caved in, sending up sparks and more smoke. There was a fire there, alright; and knowing Talbot, probably a deliberate one to kill them. He swallowed as he thought of them if they'd hadn't got out. Shaking his head - there's no point to thinking about things that haven't happened - he turned his attention back to Nate.

"Nate?" Sully said as he picked up the fallen cloth that had been dropped when they stopped,"hey, kid, you hear me?" He pressed it against the wound again, earning barely a wince from Nate. Shit. Fear gripped him harder than before and he roughly shook the kid's good shoulder. "Stay with me, okay? Nate? ...Nate!" He called, desperation raising his voice almost to a shout.

Thankfully, Nate stirred and, with effort, opened his eyes to slits, breathing shallow and trying to swallow pain. "Sully," he murmured, before his eyes closed again.

"No, no, no, wake up, kid," Sully said forcefully. No response. He shook the kid again, harder, trying to be careful of his collarbone but too scared to be gentle. Nate groaned and managed to blink open his eyes again.

"Nate, stay with me, okay?" Sully bit his lip and decided their best shot was just to get the hell out of here. Back to the car, drive as fast he could, get Nate to a hospital. This wasn't the end of this story.

He pulled the kid up again, supporting him as Nate whined in pain and tried to get his feet under his to at least stand himself. "Just stay awake, all right? Car's not far, you can make it," Sully said with way more assurance than he felt.

"I'll... I'll try," Nate replied shakily, gritting his teeth as every breath sent fire through his chest. Dammit. Sully adjusted his grip and they started through the jungle.

They were barely halfway to where (Sully was fairly certain) the car was when Nate stopped altogether, bringing their painfully slow process to a complete halt. Sully held him at arm's length and looked at him, mind racing, wondering how else to keep him going, but Nate just gave him a vague, dazed, smile, as if in apology, and his eyes fluttered closed and he collapsed, Sully barely catching him before his head hit the floor.

"Oh, no, oh God no," Sully muttered as he led Nate's unconscious form to lean on him, and grabbed the kid's wrist. His skin was cool and clammy and it took a minute to find a weak pulse.

Okay, it really really looked like they were out of luck this time. Sully closed his eyes and tried to take a deep breath. This was not how he imagined this adventure ending. Least of all with Nate severely injured and fading - if he didn't do something soon, they were both going to die here.

But he couldn't even think of one plan that would work. In fact, he knew this job would be the death of them. Just... he didn't imagine this being the end. Sully sighed and shifted, needing to move. That was all they could do. Keep moving. Yet he didn't try to get up.

Until he heard the rumble of a car's engine. Oh, shit... Well, now their choices were much easier. Die here in the jungle, or die at the hands of Talbot's men, who were clearly looking for them. Sully mumbled choice swear words under his breath as he tiredly raised his head and blinked at the advancing... red car?

Right, now he was fairly sure he was dead himself too. Maybe Talbot's men had shot him in the back and it was quick and painless. Because he couldn't really think of any other reason Chloe would be driving towards him in their car that was parked in the jungle a quarter of a mile away.

But the car must be real because now it was coming to a screeching halt near them and Chloe was getting out, and Charlie was on the other side and suddenly everything came into awareness. Nate.

Sully looked down at the unconscious kid leaning against him. "We're okay, kid," he muttered, watching the shallow rise and fall of Nate's chest. "We're gonna get through this," he whispered as the other two reached them.