Beyond Infinity - Sam Drake

Chapter Forty Three

"I am a man of fortune, and I must seek my fortune."

-Henry Avery

"Oh no, no, no, no, I must be hallucinating- this is- this is Ubar all over again, oh jeez." Sam stood awkwardly in the kitchen as he watched Ava speak to herself, the bat dropping from her hands as she rubbed her shut eyes harshly.

"Uh, no...it's r-really, really me." Sam said nervously, slightly chuckling to himself- he always thought that maybe Nate would've reacted crazier than Ava would. But he was wrong.

Ava strutted towards him and blinked her eyes a couple of times, "fucking pinch me as hard as you can."

"W-What? I-I'm not gonna-"

"Fucking do it!"

"Alright, alright, alright!" With much dismay, Sam quickly pinched Ava on the side of her neck and a wince immediately escaped her lips, squirming away from him.

"Ouch- what the fuck! Not my neck!" Ava punched Sam in the forearm and he immediately cupped the pounding area as he groaned in pain.

"Jesus-ouch-but you told me to pinch you!"

"Yeah but not my neck, dude!" Sam raised his palms in defeat and surrender and muttered some apologies to the woman who continuously rubbed her neck.

Ava scoffed at the sudden realization, freezing in her spot as she took his sight in. And because of the look on her face, Sam decided to stay silent. A part of him slightly nervous that she was secretly judging him-after all, he was gone a long time and he had no doubt that maybe Ava would find a bit of him repulsive-, but the whole part of him couldn't help but dwell on if Ava didn't like-or love- him anymore.

"Oh my God." Ava said breathlessly as her breath hitched in her throat that suddenly grew very restricting, her head going fuzzy as she suddenly felt dizzy. "You're...you're really here."

Wobbling on her feet, Sam stepped forward to grab her arm, afraid that she would fall. "Woah, heh, you're not gonna pass out on me like Nathan, are you?" Sam said jokingly.

Sam lead her to the kitchen stool and sat her down, he watched Ava rub her forehead continuously as he stayed standing up- he couldn't find the urge to sit down.

"You're not supposed to be here." At Ava's words, Sam's eyes dropped to his boots as he shoved his hands in his pocket, slightly feeling ashamed.

"I...I know, I just wanted to- I'll leave before the mr comes back home."

Ava raised a confused brow as her nose scrunched up, "what are you talking about? Mr? No- I meant you're supposed to be dead! People don't come back from the dead, Sammy."

"Uh...sorry to disappoint?"

Ava let out a held back chuckle as she slightly wiped her teary eyes. "We all...we all saw you get shot- I literally watched you fall to your death, h-how can it be? I mean, we called everywhere and everyone we knew...they all said you were gone."

Sam half-smirked as he lifted his black shirt to show off the three bullet scars on his lower abdomen. "You guys definitely watched me get shot."

Ava suddenly found herself on her feet as she shuffled nervously towards the man, her hand hesitantly reaching towards his scars, lightly brushing them with her finger tips. The contact immediately made Sam's heart flutter as he intently watched Ava examine his bullet scars with her eyes and fingers. But as her eyes traveled to lock with his, he immediately watched as her eyes gleamed with regret and mostly guilt.