Constellations – Hell, the thought of having a family rarely crossed his mind. Adopting a 15 year old teen off the streets of Cartagena? Even less so. A collection of shorts about Nate and Sully through the years.

Ursa Major

It's the third night since Sully took the kid under his proverbial wing. In all honesty, it was a decision the man didn't quite understand. Hell, the thought of having a family rarely crossed his mind. Adopting a 15 year old teen off the streets of Cartagena? Even less so. And yet, it just felt right. Sure, he didn't want to see the kid get shot for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, but something inside him – god forbid he was actually developing some sort of fatherly instinct – wanted to give the kid some guidance, a push in the right direction, a friend.

So far it had worked, the kid had stuck around while Sully tied up a few lose ends from the botched job. For the most part he followed the man like a lost puppy, but would bolt if Sully stayed in the same place for too long. Boredom seemed to spur the kid into action, often Nate would return with trinkets stolen from vendors and cash lifted off oblivious tourists. Sully wasn't lying to himself when he said the kid had talent, but petty thievery wasn't something he wanted to encourage. He'd have to figure out a way to tell the Nate that later.

But first things first, finding out where the hell the kid went. Sully only left the room 10 minutes ago, and when he returned Nate was missing and the window wide open. The first thought that crossed his mind was that the kid simply took all he could and ran, he had been acting rather cagey lately but the man chalked that up to Nate being a hormonal teenager. But a quick search revealed nothing to be missing. Poking his head through the window and looking up Sully sighed, he really should've know better by now.

"You know, kid, when most people can't sleep they grab a glass of water and a book. Not climb to the top of a hotel." Sully asked as he exited the stairwell onto the roof, if there was anywhere the kid would've gone it would be up. Even in the brief time he had known Nate it became clear that the kid had an unparalleled ability find handholds on any building, a complete lack of vertigo, and little to no sense of self-preservation. A brief glimpse of movement and a stifled snarky retort from the opposite end of the rooftop only confirmed the man's hunch. Sully let out a sigh, letting his gaze move skywards as he made his way over.

Nate sat stiffly, giving Sully a quick glance as he sat down besides him, toying with a sketchbook Sully had seen him pull out a few times during the past days. It was evident he wasn't used to being this close to people, at least in a manner that didn't involve pickpocketing. For all the streetwise charming attitude the kid projected, there were times when reality poked through. Sully didn't know how long Nate had been living on the streets of Cartagena, but the kid's actions betrayed the rosy story he preferred to tell.

"Know anything about constellations?" Sully questioned, absently flicking the ashes from the cigar. It was a shot in the dark, but maybe just talking about something would ease the kid's mind.

"Uh..." Nate bit his lip as he scanned the horizon "There's the big and little dipper, right?' he finished, pointing to a collection of stars just to the north.

"Not bad, not bad." Sully chuckled and gave Nate a friendly slap on the back, "Big Dipper, Little Dipper – Ursa Major, Ursa Minor – Great Bear, Little Bear. Pick your poison, kid." He motioned to the constellations with the cigar "Now, what's important about these two..." Sully paused as he heard a small yawn, Nate stretched and rubbed his eyes "... is that you can use them to find true north."

"True north..." the kid yawned again, louder this time "got it."

"See those two stars on the far right side of the dipper?" Nate nodded drowsily "Follow the line..." Sully once again used the cigar as a makeshift pointer, glowing embers competing with the stars above. "and viola- Polaris. Every star in the sky rotates around that one little point- kid?"

Sully stopped as when felt a warm weight on his left side.

Nate had slumped over and was resting his head on the man's shoulder. Sully let out a low chuckle and ruffled the kid's shaggy hair, "Trust you to go out like a light once I start talking."

The kid responded with a sleepy grumble, but otherwise didn't move. Perfectly content to use the man as makeshift pillow. Maybe that was all the kid needed, after the craziness of the museum bust and who knows how long on the street, just to know someone had his back. Or at least it would be nice to think it was that simple, either way Sully knew he wouldn't be moving from the rooftop for a while.

Author's Note: Once it was revealed that Sully had a comprehensive knowledge of the sky and stars, I couldn't help but write this. Hopefully y'all enjoyed this!