I showed you mine, now show me yours (are you down to get serious?)
Nate has enough sense to call Chloe in to help him and Sam when Sully leaves. Which somehow ends with her and Nadine going on their own adventure on the island and getting a lot closer than originally planned. also here on ao3
~~
The nice part about being Chloe Frazer was that she wasn't Nathan Drake.
So when the cliff fell apart at her feet she had enough wits and luck to swing her grappling hook onto a branch, keep hold of Nadine, and slam them into the rock face near the bottom of the mountain.
Unfortunately for her she was still Chloe Frazer and now had an irate woman in charge of the whole army on the island about punch her in the face on top of all the other myriad of bruises she had.
“Now hold up, love.” Chloe held her hands up. “In case you’ve forgotten I just saved your ass twice.”
It had after all only been about five minutes before that Sam had pulled a gun to Nadine’s head and Chloe had yanked her out of the way when Nate went to pull the gun from Sam’s hand. Of course that had been why Nadine had ended up falling off the cliff with her when the ground broke beneath them. She chose not to mention that part.
“You’re the reason I’m down here in the first place.” Nadine said through gritted teeth.
Rude of her to mention it.
“You’re welcome.” She said instead and nearly laughed at Nadine’s face as Nadine tried to contain her anger.
“‘You’re welcome’?” Nadine parroted and she still hadn’t dropped her hands from where they were balled into fists in front of her.
“For getting you away from Rafe.” Chloe jerked her head up to the mountain they’d fallen from. “Figure a break from that asshole is worth taking a dive off a cliff.”
Nadine’s laugh took both of them by surprise but at least she’d relaxed a bit and didn’t look so threatening anymore. Not that it was a bad look; if Chloe was being honest with herself she was a little turned on.
Which wasn’t the time.
Nadine blew out a sigh between her lips, “You realize my men are crawling all over this island.”
“Hadn’t noticed.” Chloe deadpanned, looking down at her shirt which had a hole in it from a bullet grazing her.
“I’m saying you won’t get away. What’s your plan here?” Nadine was eyeing her with a clear suspicion that had Chloe rolling her own eyes.
“I was just trying to save your life.” Chloe huffed. “Clearly I made a mistake.”
Nadine’s silence settled over them until she finally relaxed her shoulders and muttered out, “Thanks.”
“There we go. A little appreciation never hurts, I hope your men get more compliments.”
“They will as soon as they find us and take you into custody.”
“Well don’t bring out the handcuffs quite yet.” Chloe winked and was disappointed when Nadine just snorted in derision at that. “They still need to find us and I have no intention of staying put.” She tilted her head back to look up the mountain and frowned. “‘I just need a little help Chloe,’” She said, mostly to herself, imitating Nate. “‘It’ll be a quick job. Sam and I know what we’re doing.’ That should have been my first clue. And now there’s a mountain in my way Nate, you so owe me for this.”
She was already plotting out a course in her head back up, the problem however lay in that first step. She’d need a boost to get up to the rock jutting out at the perfect climbing angle. And a few more boosts judging by the rest of the climb. She’d need Nadine.
Chloe glanced over at her, seeing Nadine with her arms crossed and mentally sighed to herself.
“Listen.” Chloe began, “We both need back up there. I need to know that Nate and Sam are okay.”
“Doubtful.” Nadine cut her off, “I heard a gunshot after we fell. My guess is Rafe probably thought one of them was disposable.”
And of the two that would probably be Nate. The thought sat heavy in her and she couldn’t stop the flash of panic across her face.
Either Nadine was softer than she looked or she was too awkward in the face of someone else’s emotions – of which Chloe was guessing the latter- because she cleared her throat. “Honestly he probably would survive a gunshot. I’ve never seen anyone survive things like Drake does.”
Chloe’s smile still felt forced but at least it was there. “Nate’s special that way.” And hopefully, mercifully, still alive for her to complain about that fact. At the very least she’d gotten a radio call off to Elena before Shoreline had caught up with them, Nate might not have wanted Elena to know what was going on but Chloe had heard about the fight and wasn’t about to lie to Elena. She was Chloe’s friend too after all and Nate was being spectacular idiot. With any luck Elena would come in in time to save the day and get them off this rock.
So, Nate and Sam were probably fine and Chloe just needed to get to them which lead her back to the problem at hand. “Look I can’t imagine why you’d want to get back but I’d guess you would like to get back to your people and Rafe. I say we team up.” And then she’d split as soon as she could and not get captured by Nadine’s people.
There was a moment where it looked like Nadine was about to say no just to spite her but finally she rolled her shoulders and muttered, “Fine. Let’s go.” She walked over to the rock ledge and crouched down with her hands linked in front of her, a clear sign for Chloe to take the boost.
“Wonderful. This is going to be a beautiful partnership, I can feel it.” Chloe walked over and put her boot down, letting Nadine hoist her up to grab the ledge.
“Just so you know we’re not partners.” Nadine said but took a running jump to reach Chloe’s outstretched hand to be pulled up anyway.
“Whatever you say, love.”
“Stop calling me that.”
“All right, China.”
“No.”
It was going to be a long trek.
~~
“You’re very tense you know.” Chloe commented when they weren’t very far up the mountain at all and had deigned to take a break being out of breath already. Maybe rushing up the mountain when she was still bruised from falling down it wasn’t her smartest plan.
Nadine gave her a blank stare back in return.
“You really need to learn to relax. You’ll live longer.”
“I’ll live just fine as I am.”
“Running a military? How does one get involved in that anyway?”
Just when she thought Nadine wasn’t going to answer she got back, “It was my fathers. I took over it when he retired.”
“Ah so you didn’t dream of being in charge of a full on army as a child, good to know.” Chloe rubbed at her shoulder, trying to make her own tense muscles relax a little.
“I never said that.” Nadine replied but there was a smile at the corner of her mouth, the barest hint of amusement.
Chloe took to it quickly, “Don’t tell me, you were a terror on the playground.”
“The playground I had was a terror on it’s own, it hardly needed my help.” Nadine was frowning now and Chloe cursed herself internally. “We don’t need to be friends, Frazer. Just get ourselves back up there.” Then Nadine was scrambling up the rock face without her.
“Good talk.”
~~
“I’m surprised the Drake’s contacted you.” Nadine said much to Chloe’s surprise at their next break.
“I have to admit, I am too.” Chloe had flopped down on her back, breathing a little harshly and honestly there were better ways to get this exertion and she was half tempted to joke to Nadine about that but didn’t feel like dodging a fist. “Sam certainly resented Nate calling me. I thought it was just because Alverez and the time limit, now I know differently.” She was still pissed about that, Nate was probably beyond furious.
“Yet you still want to help them.”
“You’re still working with Rafe.” Chloe shot back, sitting up to look Nadine in the eyes. “He’s a real piece of work himself. At least I’d never let my partner get shot.” On purpose that was, Nate getting shot by Flynn all those years ago was an accident she still felt the slightest bit guilty over.
That must have stung because Nadine’s scowl deepened. Whether it was from being so close to death or the betrayal Chloe wasn’t sure.
“Lucky for you I was there.” Chloe rushed on, nudging Nadine with her shoulder.
“Nathan Drake was the one who pulled the gun away.” Nadine glanced over at her and there was some humour in her voice however dry it was.
“I’m hurt, are you saying you don’t think I was involved at all? What’s wrong, Ross, don’t like my company?” Chloe put a hand to her chest, over dramatic to the last and accidentally brushed up against the Ganesh statue she’d brought along with her in front jacket pocket. It was enough to jostle it and make it slip out and Chloe fumbled to catch it, her breath stuck in her throat as it fell.
A hand shot out to grab it before it tumbled to the ground below them and was lost forever.
“What’s this?” Nadine squinted at it as she held it up for inspection.
“Mine.” Chloe said, lifting an open hand towards her in a gesture to give it back. Nadine ignored her and Chloe huffed. “It’s a Ganesh statue.” She explained, hoping to get through it fast enough so Nadine would just return it. “A gift from my father.”
Nadine’s eyes flickered from the statue over to her before she shrugged. “It’s pretty.” She commented and handed it back.
“Thank you.” Chloe replied and clenched it in her hand, the edges of it had smoothed under her fiddling over the years and the weight was familiar, settling her nerves. “For catching it as well. I’d hate to have to come back to this island to find it.”
“You would?” Nadine raised an eyebrow at that, the surprise obvious.
“Maybe.” Chloe shrugged, maybe she wouldn’t have. Maybe it was time to let her father’s last gift go despite that that thought bothered her. She glanced down at the statue, running her fingers over the one tusk Ganesh had left on it.
“Lucky you had me then.” Nadine said idly, smirking at her, echoing Chloe’s earlier statement.
“Touché.”
“Don’t see why he couldn’t have gotten you a new one though.” Nadine stood up with a stretch.
“Ah.” The metal bit into her fingers, too warm under her hand. “It’d be a little hard. This is an original from one of his dig sites.” She assumed, it wasn’t like she’d ever gotten the chance to ask.
“He was an archeologist?” Nadine’s confusion was clear, “Yet you’re a…”
“Thief?” Chloe smiled, a little bitterly, “We can’t all follow in our fathers footsteps. And I wouldn’t want to anyway. Got him killed with nothing to show for it but this.” She tossed the statue in the air and caught it with ease.
Nadine winced, “Frazer. Listen, I’m-”
“Don’t worry about it.” Chloe cut her off and stood up, slipping the statue back into her pocket. “Let’s just go, yeah?”
Nadine met her eyes again and held them briefly before she nodded. “Ja.”
She had pretty eyes, Chloe thought and then watched Nadine tackle the next part of the cliffside, and a nice ass.
It really wasn’t the time.
~~
They ended up reaching the colony again and were both relieved to see it.
“My men have moved on,” Nadine let out a few curses as she looked around. No one could be seen. “Come on then.”
“Do you ever stop?” Chloe asked, resting tentatively against the wood of a house. She didn’t trust it not to break under her.
“Not my style.” The grin Nadine shot her was equal parts mischievous and challenge.
“Right,” Chloe nodded, “Don’t cross Ross, got it.”
Nadine’s laughter made Chloe grin widely, it made her seem lighter - not as menacing a threat that she’d become as told by Nate and Sam. “That’s not bad.” Nadine said, “I should put that on my business cards.”
“Happy to be of service.”
Nadine was still laughing as she turned to walk away and Chloe only just saw the trap a second too late.
“Nadine, wait!”
Nadine’s foot was already down however, stepping on the stone that looked just a little different than all the others and pushing it into the ground. She was quick in jumping back but still cried out when one of the darts that flew out from the other side of the room and nicked her arm.
“What the hell was that?” Nadine bent her head down to examine her arm, scowling at the scratch against it. Chloe walked over carefully, keeping one eye on the floor, and then glanced at her cut. It didn’t look too deep and she scrounged around the jacket she was keeping solely for all the pockets it had until she found a small spool of bandages.
“That was an unfortunate trap left by pirates.” She took Nadine’s arm in her hands, making a small note on the muscles underneath her, and began to wrap her cut. “We’ll have to be more careful.” She used the knife at her side to cut the bandage and finished wrapping it.
“Thanks.” Nadine nodded towards her arm. “Appreciate it.”
“No worries, love.” Chloe patted her on the arm just above the cut. “I’ve got your back.” To her delight this time Nadine didn’t comment on the pet name she’d dropped which meant Chloe could get away with it again for fun. “Let’s just take it slow.” She eyed the floor again, “We never ran into these traps last time.”
“Neither did we. Guess you and I have all the luck.”
“Could be worse,” Chloe shrugged. “You could be stuck with Sam.”
“Funny.”
“Or back with Rafe.”
“You’re not letting that go are you?”
“He’s an asshole, and let me tell you I have put up with assholes before for some treasure, but he’s just seconds away from snapping. I don’t see how you can trust him.”
“I don’t.” Nadine said, plainly. “Not after what he pulled up there.”
“See, I’m much better.” Chloe clapped her on the shoulder.
“So you’re not planning on ditching me as soon as you can?” Nadine asked, completely deadpanned.
She hesitated too long and she knew it. “Nadine-”
“Save it. Thieves it appears are all the same.” Nadine pulled away from her, once again angry and annoyed.
“Well we had some progress there.” Chloe sighed to herself.
~~
“You know,” Chloe said later, “You act like you weren’t about to lock me up as soon as we got your men so I’m not sure you have a foot to stand on here, China.”
“Maybe I was going to let you go.” Nadine grunted as she pulled vines towards her to let Chloe pass through them.
“Really?” Chloe turned and held the vines this time. Nadine brushed by her, her hair tickling Chloe’s face and making her nearly sneeze.
“I was thinking about it.” Nadine shrugged.
“Anything I can do to make you think about it again.” Chloe stepped closer to her, her arm pressed against Nadine’s.
Nadine’s eyes widened a little at that and the way Chloe’s voice dropped. “No.”
“Sure about that?” Chloe asked, raising an eyebrow and walking by, purposefully making her hips brush against Nadine’s fingers.
“What are you on about Frazer?” Nadine’s face was pinched with annoyance.
“Just asking.”
Unfortunately she should have been paying attention where she was going because as soon as she set her foot down the floorboards broke beneath her and sent her tumbling towards the bottom.
“Oh no,” Chloe just had enough time to say, her hands scrambling for purchase.
Before she could got completely off the edge she was stopped by arms around her waist and was being yanked back.
“Hold on.” Nadine said, getting them back to decent footing and then setting Chloe down.
“Ha, well then. Thanks for that, love.” Chloe slipped out of Nadine’s arms, feeling jittery with the adrenaline of nearly dying yet again.
“Don’t mention it.” Nadine went to walk past her but paused and looked back, “You good?”
“Never better.” Chloe lied for nothing better to say.
“Right.” Nadine clearly wasn’t buying it. “Let’s just take a break.”
“Sounds good.” Chloe said and collapsed onto the solid floor beneath her. A balcony above them creaked and she looked up at it, “You think any of these pirates ever took a tumble?”
“I think they’re all idiots.” Nadine took a seat next to her, close enough to be in Chloe’s periphery vision but not enough that they were touching. “But they had gold.”
“And lots of it.” Chloe agreed. She shut her eyes and leaned back. “You know you and I can always team up to try to get to the treasure first.”
Nadine was quiet and then, “I made an agreement with Rafe.”
Chloe groaned, “This again? Honestly you need to learn how to walk away.”
“If he pushes me enough I might.” Nadine admitted. “But as it stands I need this.”
Chloe opened one eye to look over at her lazily. “Shoreline?” She guessed.
“Can’t let it fail on my watch.”
“No wonder you’re wound so tight.”
“Who says I’m not just like this?”
“You know, you would have gotten along well with my father. He was also a dickhead.” Chloe closed her eyes again but then yelped and opened them when Nadine whacked her on her arm. “A little unfair there don’t you think, Ross?”
“I was holding back.”
“Of course you were. Hate to be the one who pisses you off.”
“You said it before,” Nadine was smiling again, “Don’t cross Ross.”
“I did say that.” Chloe relented. “But I was never good at following even my own advice.” Like not getting tied in with people, not caring and walking away. She sighed and stood up, “Well, back to this then. Shall we?”
They continued on their way and Chloe wished she didn’t need the pockets of her jacket because it was sweltering on the island and she was starting to feel heat sick. She didn’t let it kill her focus, this time keeping a better eye on her surroundings which was the only reason she saw it.
“Nadine, over here!” She called out, walking over to one of the bricks on the ground and crouching at it. “See this symbol? It’s Avery’s.” She might not have been Sam but she knew that much. “Strange it’s in the basement of this house like this…”
“You think it means something?” Nadine crouched down next to her to examine it, carefully brushing her fingers over the stone. “Feels loose.” She knocked on it and got back a hollow noise.
She and Chloe exchanged a glance.
“Passageway.” They said together and then dug their fingers into the stone to pry it up. It took some effort but they did get it, flipping it onto the rest of the stones to reveal a staircase going down.
“Now where does this lead?” Chloe asked out loud and reached to her belt for a flashlight. “I’m guessing if we’re lucky this could go straight to his manor.”
“And if we’re not?”
“Would a pit of alligators be too on point for pirates?”
“Crocodiles.” Nadine said, almost instantly.
“What?”
“You’re thinking of crocodiles. Alligators are more in the South Americas.”
Chloe stared at her. “Thank you Jane Goodall.”
“She worked with chimps, not crocs.” Nadine was smirking, her amusement audible.
“Whatever.” Chloe refused to find that attractive.
She was always lying to herself.
~~
“What the fuck was Avery’s goddamned problem.” Chloe panted as she dodged more wrapped up skeletons that exploded as you got close to them.
“Now this?” Nadine was less winded than her but still out breathe. “This was a dickhead.”
“Agreed.” Chloe rested against wall and eyed the area in front of them. More mummies hung from the ceiling, just daring anyone to try to walk past. “You know if we survive this I’ll never look at a mummy the same way again.”
“I’d pay to never see one again.” Nadine nudged her shoulder. “We’re almost through.”
“How do you know?”
“Call it a hunch. There’s more mummies the deeper in we go, ja?” She jerked her head towards them. “This is the largest group.”
“There better not be more.” Chloe grumbled. She stepped close to Nadine. “Ready?”
“As ever.”
They took a running start together, the sound of hissing filled the air as Avery’s bombs inside the mummies began to ignite.
One blew up a little too close to Nadine and she stumbled, Chloe grabbed her arm instinctively and righted her. “Come on, China!”
She felt like she’d been running for hours already, her vision was blurred with all the dust in the air and her throat burned with the desire to cough violently.
More explosions rocked the ground beneath them, making it unsteady and to Chloe’s horror it began to crumble.
“Run!” She yelled despite that Nadine didn’t need to hear it.
They rushed forward faster, jumping over a fallen pillar and finally upstairs into the sunlight. They fell to their knees, a mixture part of exhaustion and relief.
“Holy shit.” Chloe said as the last explosion faded from their ears. “We made it. Nice work, partner.” She held up a hand that was shaking. Nadine held up her own and they aimed for a high five that missed horribly due to their trembling limbs. “What was that?” Chloe asked, laughing lightly.
“That was awful.” Nadine echoed her sentiment.
“I’m embarrassed for you.” Chloe continued, still laughing.
Nadine was laughing too, hard enough that it shook the dust from her hair. It was a nice sight, the sunlight caught her hair and made it practically glow. Chloe stared just a little, possibly more than a little but then righted herself and looked away.
“Ignoring all the death traps this island is quite nice.” Chloe said to break the tension she was feeling. She did mean it however, the island was beautiful. “One of the perks of this job is certainly getting out a lot more.”
“Still not where I’d want to spend my vacation.” Nadine was running a hand over her face, wiping dust off but it was ineffective as her hand was coated in dirt as well.
“Oh? And where would the great Nadine Ross want to spend her time.”
Nadine was quiet and then said with surety, “Iceland.”
“Iceland?” Chloe looked over at her, confused. She mulled it over, “That’s a nice choice. Beautiful there.
Nadine shrugged, “It’s quiet. Unspoiled. And I want to see the Northern Lights.”
Chloe’s mouth clicked as she shut it in her surprise. “Oh. Yeah, I’ve heard their beautiful, never got a chance to see them myself. It’s on my bucket list. We should go, once this is all cleared up.”
Nadine was staring at her with an intense focus that would have made a lesser person squirm but Chloe was used to close scrutiny from people - usually before she tricked them though in this case she was completely sincere.
“You really think we’ll see each other after this?” Nadine asked.
“I don’t see why not, love. Can’t I hire you for a job?”
“You’re in need of an army?”
“No not Shoreline,” Chloe rolled her eyes, “You.”
“Me.” Nadine echoed in disbelief.
“You’re not bad,” Not bad too look at either. “And it’s nice to work with another woman for a change. Not many of us out here.”
“That’s true.” Nadine relented. “Still doesn’t explain why you’re like to work with me again.
Chloe sighed in exasperation. “Just take the compliment.”
“I’ll think about it.” Nadine said but the corners of her mouth twitched upwards and Chloe counted it as a victory.
“And I’ll take that as a ‘yes Frazer, I’d love to work with you again.’”
“You’ve been at this for a while haven’t you?” Nadine asked suddenly.
“What? Hunting for Avery’s treasure? Nah, that was just a few days ago.”
It was Nadine’s turn to roll her eyes. “I meant treasure hunting.”
“Ah. I started young.” Too young.
“Because of your dad?” Nadine tilted her head, like she was trying to figure something out about Chloe.
“No.” Chloe chuckled, a little bitterly. Without thinking much of it she pulled out the statue of Ganesh from her pocket and fiddled with it. “No he was too obsessed with finding something, spent every day and night researching it and wasted all out money. Sent me and my mom away off to Australia.”
“That explains the accent.” Nadine interjected and Chloe’s smile was more genuine this time.
“Yeah, but it taught me that some things aren’t worth it. You just need to walk away. But also…make sure you get a good payday while you do.” Chloe tossed the statue again and then put it away back in her pocket. “We can’t all follow in our father’s footsteps.” She said, staring at Nadine.
Nadine frowned, dipping her head down just a little in what was embarrassment. “I’ve got a job to do.”
“But do you want to?” Chloe asked, trying to meet Nadine’s eyes again but Nadine evaded her.
“Doesn’t always matter what you want to do, Frazer.”
“Chloe.”
“What?” Nadine’s head snapped up at that.
“You could call me Chloe.”
“I could.” Nadine was smirking again it was far better than the pressure that seemed to hover over her moments ago. “But you’re not getting off that easily.”
“A girl can try.” Chloe muttered. She pushed herself to her feet and stretched, trying to get rid of some of the soreness in her limbs.
It was useless as she tensed up a moment later when a gun came to rest at her forehead.
“Ma’am,” A voice said to her right and Chloe glanced over to see one of Nadine’s lieutenants there, holding the gun to her.
“Knot.” Nadine scrambled up and nodded at him. “Good job on finding us.”
“Oh so you can compliment.” Chloe grumbled, ignoring the danger of the situation yet again.
Nadine snorted with a laugh before she composed herself, “Shut up, Frazer.”
“So long for this partnership.” Chloe said and was surprised to find herself a little mournful. “Anyway I can convince you to let me go?” She glanced back over at Nadine, holding her breath.
“Let her go.” Nadine said without pause and Chloe could see it took everyone by surprise.
“Really?” Chloe asked at the same time Knot did.
“Really.” Nadine met her eyes. “You’re not so bad yourself, Frazer. Now get the hell off this island. I’ll have some of my men escort you to the beach.”
Before Chloe could actually say anything Knot interrupted them, “Sorry, ma’am, I can’t do that.”
“What the hell do you mean?” Nadine’s eyes narrowed and Chloe had thought she’d been pissed off before but that was nothing to the controlled measure of anger in her voice right then.
There were two men behind Knot who shifted uneasily and Chloe shivered despite the heat. Something bad was about to happen, all her instincts were screaming at her to get out of there as fast as she could.
“New orders.” Knot said, “You’re not in charge anymore.”
“Oh? And who is?” Nadine’s hands balled into fists at her side.
“Rafe.”
Chloe hardly had enough time to get out of the way when the gun went off as Nadine tackled Knot. The gun went flying and she dove after it, hitting the ground and then firing wildly at the two other Shoreline employees. They ran off when she missed and she cursed, whirling around to see Nadine had slammed her fists into Knot’s face and knocked him out cold.
“Nadine.” She began, stepping closer carefully.
“That son of a bitch.” Nadine spat out harshly, her shoulders rising and falling with her exaggerated breaths.
“Nadine.” Chloe said again and crouched down. “We have to go, there may be more of them.”
Nadine’s eyes flashed in anger but reluctantly she pulled herself up, grabbing another of Knot’s guns as she did.
Chloe took a quick inventory of their surroundings, they were right next to a mansion that was overgrown with fauna. She squinted at the symbol on the wall and nudged Nadine. “Avery’s mansion.”
Nadine didn’t answer and her scowl seemed permanently locked on her face just then. She stormed into the mansion without waiting for Chloe who had to scramble after her.
“They’ll form a perimeter if they know we’re here. We have to get out.”
“There should be more catacombs under here.” And more exploding skeletons probably but those seemed safer than Nadine’s army.
Ex-army.
Chloe winced at the thought. “Come on, we can hide out in there.”
They reached a living room like area, with a desk and globe in the centre.
“Now how many bets…” Chloe began playfully, stepping towards the globe, but Nadine wasn’t having it and her shoulders fell. It didn’t take long of her prodding it before a staircase opened up underneath them.
“Let’s go.” Nadine brushed past her, anger still radiating off every inch of her and footsteps sounded behind them.
“Agreed.” Down into the catacombs they went once more without another glance. They rushed along the walls, not caring which way they turned when Chloe spotted a break in the wall they could slip into. “This way.” She grabbed Nadine and pushed her towards it.
The footsteps echoed closer, yells filling the catacombs.
They had just squeezed into the place and Chloe had shut her flashlight off when people stormed right by them. Chloe pressed up against Nadine, partly because the space was so tiny and partly because she was afraid Nadine might try to jump out and fight them.
“They’re gone.” She said, breathing out a sigh of relief when the last of the footsteps echoed away. She turned on the light and shifted around to face Nadine. “You good?”
“Ja.”
“Really?” Chloe said drily and raised an eyebrow.
“What do you want me to say?” Nadine snapped, “My men just turned against me, I don’t have a solution to get them back.”
“You want them back?” Chloe asked in disbelief.
“They’re my men.” Nadine said hotly, “Shoreline is my job.”
“It doesn’t have to be.” Chloe said, exasperated that they were having this conversation again.
“What do you know, Frazer. You’ve never stuck with anything, I read your file.”
“Because I know when to walk away.”
“That’s bullshit and an excuse and you know it.”
Well that stung.
“Fine.” Chloe went to push herself away.
It was a mistake like most things in her lives.
They must have been under a river of some kind because when the rocks broke beneath them they fell into water. Chloe surfaced with a gasp, looking around as she was swept away by the current.
“Oh no.” She said when she saw the waterfall they were heading towards. “Oh shit!” She reached for her grappling hook and managed to get it on a branch and felt a brief thrill of victory except… “Nadine!” She yelled out over the rushing water but there was no yelling back.
The rope was slippery in her hand and jerked as she went over the fall, going taut with her weight. It quivered under her hands as another weight grabbed onto it and Chloe looked up to see Nadine was there.
“Oh thank god.” Chloe muttered to herself and began to slide down the rope.
Her grip slipped and she cursed as she went to grab it again. Her fingers wouldn’t grasp it, took cold from the water still and she fell.
“Frazer!”
~~
“-azer! Frazer!” The voice above her sounded annoyed and concerned all at once. “For god sakes, Chloe!”
That got her attention. It was weird to hear her first name from that voice though she couldn’t remember why just then.
Chloe groaned, shifting on her back and regretted that when it twinged in pain. “What hit me?”
“Several rocks.”
Her vision swam when she opened her eyes to see Nadine hovering over her.
“That sounds about right.” Chloe tried to sit up and groaned. “Feels about right too.”
“Just relax.” Nadine held onto her shoulder to keep her steady. “You haven’t been out long, just ten minutes.”
“Ugh,” Chloe groaned again. “We need to get going.” She went to stand and wobbled a little, Nadine’s grip on her the only thing keeping her up.
“Just wait.” Nadine said and steered her to some rocks to sit down. She crouched down in front of Chloe and eyed her with worry. “How are you feeling?”
“Like I could take on the world.” Chloe deadpanned.
“Funny.” Nadine said back in the same tone. Her gaze softened a little however. “Hey, Frazer.” Nadine paused. “Sorry for back there.”
“And here I thought you were a professional.” Chloe couldn’t help but tease. “Bad form to lose your cool like that.”
“Yeah, it was.” Nadine agreed. “You’re right. Well,” Nadine amended, “No worse than usual.”
“A compliment!” Chloe laughed and then winced when her head pounded.
“Think you can manage?” Nadine asked, not missing the pained looked at all.
“I’ve had worse nights.”
Nadine laughed this time, far too loud for Chloe but she didn’t regret hearing it. “I won’t ask.” She gave Chloe something that might have been a fond look. “Good to have you back.”
“Well,” Chloe straightened a little, “I did say I had your back.”
“You did. You’ve had it better than my current partner, that’s for sure.” There was bitterness in Nadine’s voice again and Chloe missed the easy laughter.
“When are you going to learn, love? I can do everything better than your current partner.”
Nadine leaned against her this time as she laughed and Chloe practically melted at the warmth Nadine exuded. Her head rested on Nadine’s shoulder and she moved so it was pressed to the crook of her neck.
“You know we need to move, right?” Nadine asked as her laughter died down but she wasn’t pulling away.
“Give me a minute. There’s still two of you.” Chloe retorted and shut her eyes to gather herself.
Nadine snorted and didn’t say anything else, letting Chloe take her time.
When they stood up she had a hand hovering around Chloe’s back to catch her if she took a sudden fall and Chloe was grateful for it.
“So does this mean you’re done with Shoreline?” Chloe asked and cursed her inability to let things go.
Nadine’s eyes hardened for a moment, “I’m not sure. I’ll see how much damage Rafe has done. It fell on my watch.”
“That doesn’t make it your fault. Your partner’s just a selfish dickhead.”
“Yeah she probably is.” Nadine replied without missing a beat.
“Oh I see, hilarious.” Chloe grinned despite her words.
“Come on.” Nadine rested a hand on her back that Chloe hardly felt through her jacket but liked there all the same. “The sooner we get your friends and that treasure the sooner we get off this island.”
“Right.” Chloe blew out a sigh, “Time to go.”
~~
The walk was slow, Chloe was feeling better but she wasn’t at one hundred percent yet.
“I heard them around the area.” Nadine said, referring to Shoreline. “It seems they found something.”
“Well that isn’t good.” Chloe frowned at the news. Her hands shook with the need to fidget with the statue of Ganesh she had on her but she resisted the urge, keeping her focus on the sights around them.
“No. It isn’t.” Nadine replied. She grabbed Chloe and yanked her towards the ground.
“What?” Chloe whispered, inching closer to Nadine.
“They’re here.” Nadine whispered back and inclined her head in front of them.
What Shoreline appeared to have found was a ship graveyard, Chloe could hear Sam exclaim at it.
She didn’t hear Nate however and her stomach sank with that realization.
“Hey,” Nadine nudged her like she could tell where Chloe’s mind had gone. “I’m sure Drake’s fine.”
Chloe nodded, her mind still spinning, and she regretted it a moment later when a gun clicked above them.
“Oh not again.” Chloe huffed and raised her hands, standing up slowly.
Nadine stood up with her, angry all over again.
“Orca.” She said to the man in front of them.
“Wait Orca?” Chloe looked over at Nadine. “First Knot and now Orca, where do you find these guys, love?”
Orca scoffed at her and gestured them to walk forward, straight into the makeshift camp Shoreline had set up near the shipyard of wrecked boats.
“Sam.” Chloe said when they got close enough.
“Chloe.” He returned, sounding somewhat hollow.
“Where’s Nate?” She asked, swallowing hard.
“Oh he’s gone, just like you’re about to be.” Rafe cut in. “But look who’s back!” He rested a hand over Nadine’s shoulder. “The partner I’ve been missing. Good on you for coming back, Nadine.”
She sneered at him. “Did you wait till you saw me over the edge before taking my men?”
“The thing about mercenaries…their loyalty it’s bought. Not earned.” Rafe squeezed her shoulders, too tight from the way that Nadine’s muscles flexed underneath them in an attempt to resist flinching.
“Good for you then since you haven’t earned anything.” Nadine shot back and Chloe saw Rafe pull back.
“Nadine!” She yelled out but it was too late and Rafe had struck her.
“Look we can stand around and insult each other all day…or we can finish what we started.” Rafe offered to her and then nodded at Orca who aimed his gun at Nadine’s head. “What do you say?”
Nadine gritted her teeth, her hand jerking like she wanted to punch Rafe. “Let’s make history.”
“Atta girl.”
“But let Frazer and Drake go first. You don’t need them anymore.” Nadine continued in the same breath.
“You getting soft Nadine?” Rafe frowned and pulled out his gun. “You’re right though. I don’t need them anymore.”
Chloe rushed forward without thinking, blocking Rafe. “Sam, run!” She didn’t look back to see if he had, just held her ground.
“Frazer what are you doing?” Nadine was yelling now, “What about walking away?”
“Not without you.” Chloe said, glancing her way briefly before looking back at Rafe. “I don’t turn my back on my partners.”
Well except the time she’d tried to screw Harry out of the treasure from Shambala, but he’d deserved that and she’d gotten better since then.
“Good for you.” Rafe’s smile didn’t meet his eyes, cold as it was.
He fired.
Chloe fell.
~~
“Chloe?”
The voice above her wasn’t Nadine’s, the accent was all wrong. American.
“Chloe holy shit!” And that was Nate.
Chloe cracked her eyes open. “Nate?” She gaped at him for a moment. “Holy shit yourself.” She said and sat up, wincing at the pain in her chest. She looked over to see Elena at her other side. “Elena!” She grinned at her, “How are you?”
“Probably doing better than you are right now.” Elena laughed, helping her sit up. “What the hell happened?”
“I saw you fall off a cliff!” Nate said, offering her a canteen of water that she took and gulped down.
“You know I saw you get shot, fall off a derailing train, and still manage to come back.”
Nate laughed, “Okay, point taken.”
“As for what happened...” She held her hand over her chest, the Ganesh statue still nestled in it’s pocket but this time when she pulled it out there was bullet in it. “I got lucky.” She stroked her thumb over the statue. “Thanks dad.” She said under her breath so the other two couldn’t hear her.
Her head jerked up suddenly as she remembered what had happened. “Rafe’s got Sam and Nadine.”
“Whoa, Sam I care about but Nadine?” Nate raised his hands. “Why wouldn’t I care about her?”
“Because I do.” Chloe bit back, “Trust me, Nate. We need to get her back too.”
Nate exchanged a glance with Elena who shrugged. “If Chloe says so that’s good enough for me.” Elena said and then leaned over to pull Chloe into a hug. “Good to see you again, Chloe.”
“You too Sunshine. Thanks for the rescue.”
Elena pulled back with a laugh, “Don’t thank me yet, we still have to get everyone off this island.”
“We’re working on it.” Nate assured her.
They helped Chloe to her feet and she popped the Ganesh statue back into her pocket.
“Sam made a break for it before I got knocked out.” Chloe said, “Hopefully he got away. He’d be somewhere over in this.” She nodded towards the ship graveyard.
“He made it out,” Nate stated. “He better off.”
“Relax, you Drake’s have all the luck. Shitty luck but you’ve got it still.” Elena said while passing Chloe a gun.
“Right?” Chloe snorted, “It was bad enough when there was just one of him.”
“Tell me about it.”
“Hey!”
Elena laughed and patted Nate on the cheek, leaning up to kiss it despite how dirty Nate was. “Relax, Nate. You’re still my favourite Drake.”
The affection between them was easy and Chloe bit her lip, if she was honest she was a little jealous. She’d never kept a partner long enough to get that kind of companionship with. Of course the day was still young and she had Nadine to get back.
Maybe she’d have some of her own luck after all.
“Well then.” Chloe cleared her throat, reluctant to ruin the moment but they had to get going, “Shall we?”
~~
They found Sam because of course they found Sam.
They lost Sam because of course he was a selfish dickhead who couldn’t let the treasure go.
Chloe really wished Nadine was there to make that joke with her.
Nate pulled her up the wall as the cart they used slipped beneath their feet, forcing Elena and Sully to jump back.
“Don’t even think about not coming back.” Elena was saying, keeping Nate’s gaze with her own.
“I love you.” Nate said back as promise and then turned away to head down the path.
“Same to you, cowboy.” Elena said softly.
“Don’t worry.” Chloe assured her. “I’ll keep an eye on him, Sunshine.”
“Thanks Chloe.” Elena smiled at her though it was full of worry. “Come back yourself too, okay?”
“Always do.” Chloe winked and then headed down the path with Nate.
“So.” Nate began. “Nadine, hunh?”
“Oh are we now going to talk about the brother you never mentioned?” Chloe replied idly, “Or how you never mentioned him to Elena?”
Nate sulked at that. “I really have to make it up to her.”
“You really do.” Chloe agreed. “But first you can make it up to me by helping me get my new partner back.”
“She’s that good already?”
“Maybe I am.” Chloe grinned and made sure to walk ahead. “You know you miss this ass, Nate.” The flirting was harmless, something they’d been doing for years and Chloe never meant anything by it anymore.
“Hey, thanks for coming when I called.” Nate said though, strangely serious.
Chloe nodded at him and they started down the trek to the water in silence. They made it to the boats without another word, coming up right underneath a dock that held Rafe’s boat. Sam suddenly raced path with a boat he must have stolen, heading straight to the ship in the center of the cave.
“Sam just stole our goddamned boat!” Rafe cursed and Chloe didn’t have to see him to know he looked pissed.
“Relax.” Nadine said, for all the calm however there was an undercurrent of anger in her voice. “You’ll live longer.”
“So proud.” Chloe nearly laughed but held back. Nate shot her a confused look that she ignored.
“Come on.” Rafe snarled at her and there was shuffling above them. Chloe was willing to bet he’d grabbed Nadine and was herding her onto the boat.
“We need to get there.” Nate whispered to her and pointed towards the ship.
They dove under the water again, coming up farther away from the deck and started swimming towards the ship. Everything seemed fine until the explosion within the ship that then set it ablaze.
“Shit shit shit.” Nate was saying as he swam faster.
Chloe would have agreed with him if she wasn’t so focused on swimming faster as well.
They reached the ship and dragged themselves inside. Smoke filled the air and Chloe coughed at it. “We have to hurry!”
No Shoreline people stopped them as they made their way in and Nate rushed forward once they got the door of the cargo bay to see Sam on the ground with a beam over top of him.
“Help me get this up!” Nate went to pull it back and Chloe stepped forward to assist him when a gun cocked near her.
“Come on.” She groaned, turning to see Rafe standing there.
“Hey Nate.” He said, not even acknowledging Chloe which she found rude.
“Where’s Nadine?” She asked, realizing that she didn’t see her.
“Other room.” Rafe jerked his head towards another door. “Poor Nadine, she was furious about me shooting you. I almost had to shoot her too. Really not worth the money I paid for.”
“Oh shut up you asshole.” Chloe snapped.
“You should probably help her out. She went ahead of me you see. Got hit pretty hard when that explosion went off.”
That sounded bad and Chloe glanced towards the door.
Nate was still struggling behind her but she heard him say, “Chloe, go!”
Rafe’s gun went off, firing into the boards at her feet. “Well?” He demanded. “Get me my treasure.”
“Get it yourself.” Chloe bit out as the ship rocked beneath them, she used the momentum to take Rafe by surprise and grabbed the gun from him, holding it to him. “Now play nice and help Nate while I check on Nadine.”
She walked towards the door as quickly as she could but Rafe let out a yell and started racing towards her. She bolted then, getting through the door but stumbling. The gun went flying, landing on the floor with a clatter. Nate and Sam were yelling at each other as it was happening. Rafe lunged for her again but Chloe ducked out of his way.
Water rushed around them suddenly and Chloe looked over to see Nate had punched a hole in the side of the ship.
“What are you doing?” Chloe yelled and dodged Rafe yet again.
“It’s the only way to get Sam!” Nate yelled back and dove towards his brother.
“Dammit, Nate!” Chloe cursed and tried to look around the room for Nadine. The hesitation was enough to Rafe to catch up to her and of course he had a sword, why wouldn’t he? “Really?” Chloe asked in exasperation.
He raised it to swing at her but a gunshot rang out and he fell into the water that was swirling knee deep around them.
Chloe looked over to where it had come from to see Nadine leaning against the wall of the ship.
“Nadine!”
“Frazer?” Nadine sounded confused. “How…?”
“No time!” Chloe grabbed her hand, “Get ready for a swim, love.”
They jumped into the water after Sam and Nate, coming up only to see the rocks from the ceiling falling around them.
“Oh shit.” Sam yelled.
“Shut up and swim.” Nadine snapped at him.
“Bossy.” Chloe managed to get out between strokes in the water.
“You like it.” Nadine said back and Chloe grinned.
They made it to the shores where Elena helped drag them up on land. “Hey Sully, I got ‘em.” She said into a phone and fired a flare for him to find.
“You came back.” Nadine panted from where she sat next to Chloe.
“Wasn’t about to leave you behind, love. Told you it wasn’t my style.” Chloe gasped for air, the adrenaline wearing off and the last few hours taking their toll on her.
Nadine hummed and helped her get on the plane when Sully landed, getting them strapped in side by side. Chloe’s head fell on her shoulder.
“I’m just going to check out for a bit.” She said sleepily.
“You do that Chloe.”
“Stick around.” Chloe mumbled, “I’ve got other benefits to show you.”
Nadine laughed and it was last thing she heard before she passed out.
~~
The plane rides back were a blur to her, she remembered at one point waking up to Nadine snoring with her head on Chloe’s thigh and that she had to tease Nadine about that later.
“You know I’ve never been to the States before.” Chloe said once they were back at Nate’s work. “This is actually my first visit.”
“Not much to see.” Nadine said next to her, leaning against a crate as she watched the rest of the group say their goodbyes to each other.
“Yeah, not much interest here.”
“Oh? Something caught your interest then?”
The opening was too good to pass up.
“Well,” Chloe began, grinning as she leaned into Nadine’s space. “There was something.”
Nadine was smiling, she could feel it more than see it when she pressed her lips against Nadine’s. Her hand slipped into Nadine’s hair to deepen the kiss. She only pulled back when her lungs protested having been beaten up enough she couldn’t hold the kiss for very long.
“I promise I can usually last longer.” Chloe said, winking as she did though she was breathing heavy.
Nadine rolled her eyes, “You’ll have to prove it. I did more mean did any other places catch your interest.”
Chloe hummed, fishing the statue of Ganesh out of her pocket. “Maybe one thing.” She said and brushed her fingers over where Ganesh was missing a tusk. “But I could use a partner in this.”
Nadine grinned, pulling Chloe a little closer. “Just don’t turn out like my last one and I think we’ve got a deal.”
“Now love I did say I was far better already.” Chloe scoffed, “But I say we make a detour before this.”
“Where to?”
“I was thinking Iceland.”
Nadine was too busy kissing her again and it was rather unprofessional of her really.
Chloe was already rubbing off.
So proud.