Healing Touch

Title: Healing Touch

Summary: Elena knew the massage class she took would come in handy one day. She just never thought it would put her into such a compromising situation with Nathan Drake.

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Pairings: Nate/Elena

Warnings: Nothing to worry about here.

Winter-Rae: Hello fellow Uncharted fans! I have to say, I adore this game. Nate and Elena rock my socks, so this was fun to write. First of all, I have only played the first Uncharted game, and watched the motion comic prequel, but I have not seen nor heard anything about the sequel. So please NO SPOILERS for Uncharted 2, or I will be very upset with you! Anyway, enjoy.

Healing Touch

Elena knew that the massage class she had taken would come in handy to someone other than herself. She had taken it to treat her own aches and pains, and occasionally the ones of her now ex-boyfriend. She hadn't thought that it would put her into such a compromising situation with Nathan Drake, the man she had once punched in the face for leaving her behind on that dock.

That moment seemed a long time ago now however, especially considering that she and Nate had grown very close in such a short time. Close as in they were friends; neither of them had decided to take that next step. Elena was convinced that Nate wasn't interested and Nate was still sure that he had blown any chance he might have had with her. Thus, they were stuck in a sort of awkward limbo; wanting to be close to each other but neither daring to make that move.

However, after Elena had seen how sore Nate was after his most recent rock climbing attempt, she offered to give him a massage which he gratefully accepted. She was currently straddling Nate's hips, attempting to work out the aches and pains from his back. As she worked, she was surprised to find a great many scars on his toned back. The looks of them, made her think that he had been beaten as some point in time, all in all that shouldn't have surprised her, considering what happened to them on that island. And Nate always seemed to be good at getting himself into some kind of trouble. She didn't draw attention to them however; it wasn't any of her business anyway.

She continued to rub a mixture of lavender and chamomile oil onto his back, until Nate shifted from beneath her. She paused, placing her hands on his low back softly, worried that she had hurt him.

"You okay?" she asked him. Nate nodded, but didn't say anything. Elena smiled softly when she realized he had a small smile on his face as he lay on the hotel room bed with his eyes closed. She then went back to rubbing the oils onto the long abused muscles.

"Where does a reporter learn this anyway?" he asked her as he cracked open one eye to glance up at her, "It doesn't seem like something you could just pick up. It feels different than other massages I've had before."

Elena chuckled.

"I bet."

Nate flushed and she felt his muscles tense up slightly under her nimble fingers.

"I didn't mean it like that," he said quickly, "You just seem to really know what you're doing."

It was Elena's turn to blush from his compliment, even though it annoyed her to react like this.

"I took a massage therapy class a couple of years ago," she explained, "I used to get really bad headaches and massage is the only thing that really helps. So I thought I should learn the proper way instead of just winging it."

Nate grinned as he let his eye slide shut once again.

"Sounds like something you would do," he mused, falling silent so she could finish the massage slowly.

"Does that feel better now?" Elena questioned as she shifted to sit beside Nate. He turned onto his side to face her before nodding.

"Good, you were really tense too, anything bothering you?"

Nate shook his head no.

"Just thinking about stuff," he replied, "I'll figure it out eventually."

Elena frowned, annoyed that he was trying to keep things from her. Didn't he trust her at all? Nate plastered another smile on and poked her arm.

"What were those oils you used? They smelled great?"

Though pleased with another compliment, Elena made a mental note to press the issue that was bothering him...later.

"Lavender and chamomile," she replied, "Lavender can be used for a lot of things like reducing the appearances of scars. And the chamomile was to help relieve your stress. That, along with your crazy stunts, caused the sore muscles."

"Hey, in my defence, those 'crazy stunts' have helped save our asses before," he reminded her playfully. Elena laughed.

"Touché."

"So...reducing scars?" he asked, somewhat awkwardly, "I'm guessing that doesn't happen with just one massage, right?"

"Well, no, but if you want to I could give you a massage right before you go to bed, using the lavender. They'll fade a bit eventually."

"You're planning on staying around here for awhile then?"

Elena fought against another blush as she quickly thought up something to say.

"You still owe me one," she replied simply, "I have no intention of letting you out of my sight, if I do, you'll try to go on some other treasure hunt without me. And we can't have that."

Nate chuckled in amusement at her. The two of them then got off of his bed and he walked her to the door. Before she left he pulled her into a one arm hug.

"Thanks Elena," he said. Elena hesitated a moment before hugging him tightly and resting her head against his chest. She sighed contently as his arms encircled her, holding her close.

"Is there something you want to talk about?" he asked her.

"Like what?" Elena asked.

"Oh I don't know, how about why you've been blushing like crazy for the better part of the evening?"

Elena felt her annoyance flare up again. Nate certainly had a way of ruining a moment. She shook her head as she tried to pull out of his arms. However, all that did was bring her head up so that she was no longer hiding. The two held each other's gaze until Elena closed the distance; capturing Nate's lips in a soft kiss. Nate quickly reacted and moved them back towards his bed until he was leaning over her.

They parted then and Nate was wearing one of the most infuriating smirks Elena had ever seen.

"Or we could skip the conversation," he teased.

Elena flushed again, only this time it was more out of anger than embarrassment at his insinuation.

"Wow," she mused, "So, I get to be one of Nathan Drake's one night stands? Aren't I lucky?"

"Wait, what?" Nate asked as she glared up at him, arms crossed over her chest, "I never said that."

"What do you want from me then?" she asked him, "A one night thing or something else; because I do care about you Nate, almost too much. But I don't just want to sleep with you. I really want to be with you. If you can't deal with that or you don't want that, tell me now and we'll forget this ever happened."

"Well, thanks for spelling that out for me," he mused, trying to lighten the moment. Elena smiled slightly and shrugged.

"I like to keep things nice and simple for you."

"That's good because as a part of the male population I suffer from idiocy and I usually just make things up as I go."

He then lent forward and placed a kiss on her forehead.

"As for us," he went on, "I'm leaving that up to you. But I think I should tell you, I wouldn't mind being able to call you mine."

Elena smiled and reached up to touch his face.

"You might be an idiot, but you're my idiot."

Nate laughed.

"So I hope this means there isn't going to be anymore tension between us."

"Is that what was stressing you?" she asked, feeling flattered that she could have such an effect on the normally clam Nathan Drake.

"Part of it," he replied.

"Why didn't you say anything?" she asked.

"Didn't we already establish that I was an idiot?"

She swatted his arm as he moved to lay next to her.

"I guess it goes both ways, I could have said something too," she said, "Looks like we're both idiots. I just can't help but think that we've lost time together because we were both too stubborn to say anything."

"We can always make up time," Nate told her, "I know a bunch of little islands we could go and get lost on."

"That sounds great," she replied, "Any chance one of them has a story?"

"Ever the reporter," he said with a grin.

Elena then rolled onto her side and wrapped an arm around him so she could pull him close. Nate felt her hand rub his back gently; some areas were more sensitive than others but her touches were warm and gentle; they didn't hurt at all.

He'd tell her about how he got them eventually, but not now. Right now he was going to lay here with this beautiful woman and enjoy the quiet.

Because knowing himself, and knowing Elena, it wasn't going to last long.

Winter-Rae: So, if Elena and Nate did hook up in the second game, consider this an AU fic. If they didn't get together, then this is what I would like to happen. Either way, I hope you all enjoyed that, give me some feedback so I know what you thought. I love writing banter for these two, it seems to suit them. Thanks for reading, cheers!