The Uncharted Tales

Chapter 10

Part 1: From Small Beginnings

Victor Sullivan

The adrenaline coursing through Sully's veins began to dissipate, leaving behind a weary fatigue in its wake. But he couldn't rest yet, couldn't ease the tension coiling the muscles in his very being, even when the vehicle rolled up to the motel. He was quick to rent out two connecting rooms, forgoing his usual method of bargaining for a reduced price, if only so he wouldn't be pulled away from the boys longer than he needed to be. More importantly, Sam needed medical attention as soon as humanly possible.

Upon returning to the car, Sully first groped for the medical kit he kept in the glove box, then proceeded to help Nate by holding doors open for him while he muscled his trembling brother inside. Once Sam was situated on the couch, with Nate hovering over him, Sully retreated to the small kitchen unit for only a few, short moments.

"Here." He came back to them with a pack of ice and the first aid kit – it wouldn't do anything for Sam's damaged appendages, but he was battered in more ways than one, namely that there might be injuries that they were unaware of. Sam, with his free hand, pressed the pack to the dark bruising around his eye with a grimace while Nate dug around the kit for cotton swabs. Sully was just beginning to look through the phone book provided by the motel when Nate leaned forward to clean the blood away from the lower half of Sam's face.

Sam jerked back with a flinch. "What the hell, Nathan?"

"Shut up," The kid snapped back. "You've gotta sit still."

When he tried again, Sam pulled away a second time, this time snatching his hand around Nate's forearm. "Sonofabitch, that hurts!"

"I couldn't guess why," Nate bit out drily. "Stop your whining already, or else I'm gonna make you do this yourself."

The boys stared down one another, then the younger brother started dabbing the cotton swab at his nose and this time Sam didn't react as violently, nothing more than a wince and a hiss between his gritted teeth. Sully recognized it wasn't quite submission on Sam's part, but Nate wasn't exactly a pushover anymore – not that Sully ever knew him to be one – and he was starting to develop some authority. Sam must have recognized it.

The kid turned to look at Sully partway through the process. "Shouldn't we get him to a hospital?"

He shook his head as he finally found the contact he was scouring the pages for. "Not unless you want to risk running into Peterson again."

"No good, lying, sonofabitch! When I see his sorry ass agai-"

Sully cut Sam off. "Oh yea? What are you going to do if you run into him?" He shot a hard look at the other man, and he was met with nothing but glaring resentment. Sully huffed in exasperation. "Can't believe that wasn't enough to scare the shit outta you."

Nate toyed with the bloodied swab between his fingers while shifting uneasily on the cushion. "I think you scared the shit out of Peterson."

Sam snorted. "You kidding? I thought he was going to shit himself. I nearly did." He then gave Sully a funny look, one that he couldn't quite decipher the meaning of.

Sully waited for him to say more, then realized the ball was in his court. The truth was, he had no answers, not ones he was willing to admit out loud. Back at the watchtower, he spun lies to get the idiots out of their mess, to get them away from a man who could end their lives in a matter of seconds. Despite that, there was one truth he uttered in the face of the lowlife holding a gun to Sam's head – the Drake brothers belonged to him.

Nate was as close to family as anyone ever had been, if not more so, and Sam was growing on him, even if there were plenty of times when Sully wanted to slap him upside the head for his belligerence. Even after everything they put him through over the years, there was no preventing the surge of protectiveness flooding through him as flashes of the night crossed the front of his mind. Nate could have easily been in Sam's place, and that utterly terrified him. He knew by now there was not much he wouldn't do to keep the kid safe.