mgowriter's note: I started this story a while ago after playing Uncharted 2, but Uncharted 3 inspired me to go back and finish it. Now I am hooked on all things Nate and Sully. It's my first fanfic post! Hope you guys enjoy.

A Helping Hand

Victor Sullivan felt a hard tap on his shoulder and turned around to see the pilot yelling something inaudible over the roar of the spinning helicopter blades.

"What?" he shouted.

"Jump. Now!" said the pilot.

He looked down from the cabin of the chopper. It was a six or seven foot drop to a narrow snow bank, on the side of an unnamed Himalayan mountain.

"You're not setting it down?" Sully yelled back.

"Too unstable," the pilot pointed down to the same spot on the ground. "Might cause avalanche."

"Thanks for the warning," Sully replied, grabbing the duffel bag next to him.

"No problem," the pilot replied, failing to catch his sarcasm. He gave Sully a wide grin. "Welcome to Tibet!"

Sully looked down at the ground one last time, and pushed off from the cabin door. He landed in a half roll, knee deep in soft, powdery snow. Brushing off the majority of it from his leather jacket, he saw the Tibetan pilot give him a big thumbs up. He waved in return. The chopper hovered for a few seconds longer, and quickly began to ascend. Sully pulled his jacket tighter around himself as the cold wind whipped around him.

He didn't have to look far to see Chloe a couple of hundred yards away, waving next to an old Jeep.

"It's good to see you, Sully!" she shouted as he neared.

They hugged quickly, and Sully motioned for them to climb into the car. For such a beat up exterior, it was surprisingly warm inside, with the heater on full.

"Good to see you, too," said Sully, as the deafening noise started to subside. "Came as fast as I could. Thanks for the ride," he motioned towards the now toy-sized chopper through the windshield.

"No problem," Chloe replied.

"Now you mind telling me why I'm here, in the middle of nowhere, Tibet, freezing my ass off instead of drinking margaritas in Acapulco?"

He received the call in the middle of the night, and Chloe didn't make any sense. Five minutes later on a terrible connection, he was able to figure out she was talking about Nate, the Cintamani Stone, and a life and death situation. He quickly packed a bag and hopped on the nearest plane.

After knowing the guy for almost twenty years, worrying about all the ways Nate could've gotten himself killed kept Sully busy for most the trip. Four connections later, he was met by a man named Rigzin, who said he was sent by Chloe. Rigzin pointed to the 1956 Kamov helicopter behind him and smiled widely, revealing four missing front teeth. It was half of a miracle that he was sitting here at all. The thing flew like it had lived to see a couple of decades too many. Sully shook his head. He was really missing Carita right about now. She made the perfect margaritas.

Chloe laughed at his description. "Carita's margaritas, huh? I bet that's not all she was good at making."

Sully shrugged, reaching for a cigar from his left jacket pocket. "So, are you gonna tell me what this is about?"

Chloe's smile left her face. She remained silent for a second, searching for the best way to break the news.

"Do you know someone named Elena Fischer? She's a journalist."

Sully raised his eyebrows. That was name he hadn't heard in months.

"I've…met her before," he said cautiously. "Why do you ask?" He hoped he didn't just get Nate into trouble. The last time he saw them, Nate and Chloe were looking pretty close. How did she know about Elena?

"It's a long story," Chloe said, "but to make it short, we bumped into Elena in Borneo, Lazarevic turned out to be way more evil than anyone thought, Nate had to fight him and pretty much save the world, and we all made it out okay—except Elena, who was caught too close to an exploding grenade. We don't know if she's going to make it or not."

Sully grabbed the cigar that almost fell from his mouth. "You're kidding." He looked at her sharply. "Tell me you're kidding."

Chloe shook her head. "I wish I were."

"How's Nate taking this?"

"Not good," she replied.

. . .

They drove for a couple of minutes in silence on the small, winding road. The prospect of falling off the edge at a sharp turn was disconcerting, but the scenery was stunning. It was something out of a postcard. Snow-covered mountains, lush, green valleys, and the sun, shining down from a cloudless sky. They lost elevation quickly, and by the time they neared the village, the temperature seemed downright balmy. The frigid winds on the exposed mountain cliffs just twenty minutes ago seemed like a distant memory.

Chloe stopped the Jeep as they entered the small village. Some of the villagers turned to look their way, studying Sully with interest.

"He's in there." She pointed to a small house to their right. It was part of a cluster of similar flat-roofed houses made mostly of stone, mud, and wood, surrounding an informal courtyard. A trio of boys were kicking a soccer ball around, laughing and bantering with each other. Another girl was helping her mother hang the day's laundry up to dry. Two of the older men sat outside a house, smoking pipes and studying the foreigners openly.

Sully entered the doorway Chloe pointed to, walked past a common area and kitchen of sorts, and into the sleeping quarters. It was naturally dark, from the construction of the house. He could see candles in the middle of a table, but they remained unlit. The scent of firewood and herbal medicine filled the room.

Nate had his back to him. He was sitting on a long, wooden bench, leaning toward the figure in the bed. A young Tibetan girl sat to his left. She couldn't have been more than six or seven years old, dwarfed in size compared to Nate. Her legs swung back and forth, not yet long enough to touch the floor. She was staring in the same direction as Nate.

Sully inched closer and saw what he feared. Elena lay too still to be asleep under a heavy blanket. Her complexion was pale, the skin on her face completely drained of color. Her hand rested lifelessly in Nate's.

The girl first sensed Sully's presence and turned around. Her eyes widened as she tugged on Nate's sleeve. She spoke urgently in Tibetan.

"Chloe, I said I wanted to be alone," Nate said without looking back.

Sully hesitated. He had known Nate for over twenty years, and had seen many girls come and go. Elena, he had suspected, was someone special. Nate's tone of voice just confirmed it.

"I come all the way to Tibet, and that's the greeting I get?" Sully's voice boomed inside the small room.

Nate turned in surprise. "Sully! What are you doing here?"

"You tell me, kid. Chloe calls me in the middle of the night and tells me to get here as soon as I can. After flying half-way around the world, worrying my head off and thinking you're dead…I find this." Sully motioned to Nate and Elena. "What the heck happened? I thought you and her…"

"We met up in Nepal. She was doing a story on Lazarevic and I couldn't leave her there. The city was in civil war. We caught up to Lazarevic and Flynn, that bastard, threw a grenade and Elena didn't have time to get out of way. I would kill that son of a bitch traitor, if he wasn't already dead." The anger in Nate's eyes fizzled out as quickly as it appeared. "Sully, I don't know what to do."

Sully sat down next to Nate. He leaned in to examine Elena. Her chest barely rose with each shallow breath.

"How long has she been like this?"

"We got back two days ago," Nate replied. "They're saying the next few days are very important." He lowered his head. "This is my fault, Sully. I let this happen."

"Kid," Sully started, before softening his voice. "You don't always have to be the hero, you know. Like you said, this was that bastard Flynn's fault. I'd like to get my hands on him myself, if you weren't first in line."

Nate was silent, lost in thought.

"C'mon, kid, you're gonna worry yourself sick sitting here all day. You need some fresh air, and a shower. I could smell you from ten feet away."

Nate shook his head. "Sully, I have to be here when she wakes up."

"Nate—" Sully placed a hand on his shoulder. He quickly pulled it back as Nate involuntarily flinched.

Sully turned to take a better look at his friend. The once white shirt that Nate wore was now at best gray, with dirt, mud, and blood stains covering the majority of the cloth. It was clear he hadn't moved much from his seat in the past two days. Sully could see a large, ugly bruise that swelled over his left shoulder, extending to his neck. He could almost make out the indentation of the rifle butt from where it contacted skin. The most alarming spot, however, was a large oval of red on his shirt, extending diagonally from the abdomen to his side.

"Lift up your shirt."

It took a few moments for Nate to process the request. "What?"

Sully pointed to the ugly red stain. "Have you done anything about that?"

Nate looked down at his own shirt. "It's fine. I'll get to it later."

"Lift up your shirt, Nate."

Nate looked at Sully. When he spoke in that tone, "no" wasn't an option for an answer. Ever since he was a kid, Sully always stressed taking care of your wounds first, to avoid infection. "You get cut by a rusty knife in the middle of the jungle, and you can lose an arm, or worse," he would always say. "It's not always the big guns that kill."

Nate reluctantly rolled up the bottom of the shirt, wincing as he accidentally touched another bruise underneath. The wound was undeniably ugly. It looked like a bullet had grazed his side, enough to take away a good half inch of flesh, but not enough to be dislodged. There were bits of dirt and mud intermixed with various stages of dried blood and inflamed tissue.

Sully shook his head. "Nate, what the hell is this? You've been here two days and you let it sit like this?"

The little girl, who had been quiet since the arrival of the older man, started to speak and point at the wound as soon as she saw it.

"See? She agrees with me," Sully said, as he stood. "Lucky for you, I'm always prepared." He picked up his duffel bag. "I've got iodine, gauze, antibiotics; the whole pharmacy in here. C'mon, it'll only take a couple of minutes. You need a break." He motioned for Nate to follow him.

Nate didn't move. He looked as if he were in a trance, his eyes still on Elena.

Sully moved directly into Nate's field of vision, forcing the younger man to look him in the eyes. "Just a couple of minutes. You can give me that, can't you kid?"

Nate nodded slowly. "I guess…"

"Good," Sully replied, as he extended his hand. Nate used it to hoist himself up. He groaned involuntarily and leaned heavily against Sully as the room started to spin. Every inch of his body ached.

"I've gotcha," Sully said as he led him towards the entrance of the house. They settled on the front steps, to take advantage of the warmth from the sun. Sully sat down and started to unpack his wound dressing kit.

"What'd you do, Sully, drug him?" Chloe's voice greeted them as she neared. "I've tried everything for two days and it takes you five minutes."

"Talked some sense into him," Sully replied, as he put on a pair of latex gloves. "Chloe?"

"Hmm?"

"What's a guy gotta do to get a bite to eat around here?"

"I'm on it," she said. "Nate, anything for you?"

Nate shook his head. He closed his eyes. Sitting down wasn't helping too much with the spinning and light-headedness.

The little girl followed Chloe, leaving Sully and Nate alone.

"That's Tenzin's daughter," said Nate. "Her name is Pema."

"Who's Tenzin?"

Nate opened his eyes. "Long story."

"So I've heard," said Sully. "I leave you for a minute, and you get shot. Remember that time in Argentina? I leave to get lunch, for Christ's sake, and you get shot. Tell me, how is it possible for one person to get into as much trouble as you?"

Sully didn't expect Nate to answer. Instead, he carefully pulled away Nate's shirt for a closer examination.

"Ever heard of ducking under cover? Not every gunfight has to be head to head, you know."

He worked quickly as he talked. "She really means this much to you?"

Nate nodded, wincing at the sting of the disinfectant.

Sully had never seen the kid so quiet. He usually had a wise-ass crack about anything and everything. "She's tough, Nate. I've seen it. She'll get through this."

Nate nodded again, not yet ready to believe him.

Sully finished wrapping the gauze around Nate's torso and dug for something inside his bag. He held out two pills a second later and handed them to Nate. "Amoxicillin. Take these." Nate dry swallowed them without comment.

He was about to say something else when he saw Chloe walking back with a bowl of food and jug of water. The little girl was still following her. She had a basin of water and a towel in her hand.

Chloe handed the bowl to Sully. "Straight from the kitchen."

"Thanks, Chloe."

"No problem. The washcloth is for his…face," she finished. In fact, every surface on Nate's body was covered with grime.

Sully sat back down and handed the bowl to Nate. "Eat."

"Not hungry," he replied, trying to hand the bowl back.

"Not negotiating," said Sully.

Nate sighed. "I thought the food was for you."

"Would you have said yes if I said it was for you?" Sully asked.

"No."

"Exactly. Eat."

Nate looked down at the bowl. There was rice on the bottom, with some sort of meat and what looked like root vegetables. "What is this?"

"Doesn't matter," Sully said. "Food is food. Your body needs it to heal."

Nate finally gave in and lifted a spoonful of the meal to his lips. His first bites were tentative, but they tasted good. He soon realized that he was starving, and didn't need any more persuasion to finish it.

He set the bowl down and watched Sully wring out the wet washcloth in the basin.

"Now wash your face and your hands."

Nate didn't complain. It felt good to lay the warm cloth on his face and wipe the grime away. The clear water in the basin turned muddy quickly.

"Not a real bath, but it'll have to do for now. You think you're okay getting up?" Sully asked.

"Yeah, I feel better."

"Good, because you need some sleep."

"No, I have to be here," Nate protested, as he looked back into the house.

"I'm not saying you can't have some quality time with the girl at the same time," Sully replied, with a grin.

Nate smiled, for the first time in days. "How do you make everything sound so dirty?"

Sully laughed. "It's called game, and someday I'll teach it to you."

Nate rolled his eyes. "Right, game."

He pulled himself off the ground and made his way back to Elena's bed. He climbed in quietly, being careful not to disturb her.

"Want me to tuck you in?"

"Funny," said Nate, as he pulled the covers over himself.

Satisfied with what he saw, Sully turned to leave.

"Sully?" Nate's voice was already drifting toward sleep.

"Yeah, kid?"

"Thanks for coming."

"Always do, don't I?"

"Yeah, you always do."

"Get some sleep. I'll see you in the morning."

"Okay."