


Uncharted: Missing

by Obrusnine



Category: Uncharted series
Genre: Family, Tragedy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-11-24
Updated: 2013-02-19
Packaged: 2013-08-05 05:10:06
Rating: T
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,782
Publisher: www.fanfiction.net
Story URL: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8734416/1/
Author URL: http://www.fanfiction.net/u/1859019/Obrusnine
Summary: 22 years have passed since Nate's last adventure. He has a family and his daughter is about to get married. But one day, everything is torn apart as Elena and his youngest son are kidnapped by an unknown organization that makes no demands. Knowing that he can't hold anything back, Nate goes after his family. Sequel to Uncharted: Seekers of the Lost. This is a very dark story.





	1. Chapter 1: Tragedy

**So, finally, here we are. My next Uncharted story starts now, although… it is one tragic beginning. You would be doing yourself a disservice by not reading all current chapters of Uncharted: Seekers of the Lost and Uncharted: Memories before reading this as this is a sequel to Uncharted: SotL and Memories. It lets you connect with newer characters. **

**This is a far more depressing story then Seekers was, so be prepared. It has much more darker themes that will be revealed to you in this chapter. This is a very dark tale I'm telling. **

**Keep following Memories if you are already, I'm still going to be posting more there as characters such as Harry and Donnie need some more screen-time. **

**Also, excuse if I did this opening segment wrong. I have no idea how one shops for wedding dresses.**

* * *

**Uncharted: Missing**

**By Obrusnine**

* * *

**Last updated: November 24****th****, 2012 fD**

**(ED: Basic Edit / RW: Rewrite / fD: First Draft / FD: Final Draft)**

* * *

**Chapter 1: Tragedy**

"_The loss of a loved one turns our life upside down. Our world as we knew it has changed and those changes require that we in turn adjust to a new normal." __**–Unknown**_

* * *

Nathan Drake walked along the myriad hangers of white wedding dresses with his wife Elena on his arm. Their daughter Iria walked along before them looking very happy as she grabbed dresses that were to Nate indistinguishable from each other.

"That one is pretty." Elena said as Iria grabbed yet another and placed it over the already large pile draped over her arm.

"Thanks Mom." Iria said. Elena nudged him on his side.

"Oh… yea, very pretty." Nate said re-assuming attention. He smiled at his daughter and was happy that she was happy. She was just turning 22 and here she was getting married to her childhood friend Donnie. He remembered back to when she was just a small beautiful baby in his arms and smiled even more brightly.

Iria scowled at his obvious lack of attention.

"What?" Nate asked. "Sorry, I just don't see how they are so different to each other."

"Did he act the same way when you two were getting married?" Iria asked.

"Pfft, unfortunately." She replied. "The remarriage was even more entertaining..."

Nate scratched his head grinning at her obvious use of sarcasm.

"Yea, you just sit there being a pretty face." She said.

"Hey, I'm not pretty, I'm handsome. Iria is pretty." Nate replied indignantly.

Iria walked up and used her free hand to pat him on the shoulder.

"Sure Dad, whatever you say." She said. It was Nate's turn to scowl this time. Just as he usually did when annoyed, he reached up to his neck and thumbed around the shard of glass that was from the Holy Grail. He had shattered the Holy Grail 22 years ago after deeming it too powerful to be used by anyone.

After drinking someone's blood from it, the user was immediately granted the ability to control the movements of anyone he or she could see. This caused him to bring up uncomfortable memories of Jason Tepla, the previous leader of the now defunct order of the Knights-Templar. They had been obliterated by another secret order called the Seekers of the Lost, except, they were still very well running as far as he was aware.

He didn't really know of course. It had been several years since he had seen the orders apparent leader Clara Hopkins. His now deceased father, Harold Drake, had been a spy for them before he was shot by Jason and then finished off by his father figure Victor Sullivan, who had passed only a short while after when they had been collecting another powerful artifact… the staff of Moses which granted the user control of the elements.

The final artifact was still out there somewhere. He still had control over it, but he had resolved never to use its power. The Ark of the Covenant granted the ability to make anyone affected by the user love them. He had not found any reason to destroy it as he had the Grail and Staff, having sawed the ladder in half and still was in possession of his own half while the other was still in the possession of the Seekers.

Still, those days were long past, and he didn't find himself thinking much about it anymore. Instead he watched as Elena followed Iria into the dressing room as she tried on wedding dresses. They were getting married in a week, although Nate had always thought that Donnie should be the one wearing the dress… as Iria took more after Nate then she did her mother Elena.

He entertained the funny thought in his mind until the door opened and he was distracted by his daughter. He smiled as he saw how beautiful his daughter looked in the wedding dress. No matter how tough she was, Nate knew she was also beautiful… at least, in his eyes. But he supposed he didn't exactly have fair judgment of that considering he was her father.

"I like that one." Nate said. Although, he was really trying to get out of the situation he was in as he did not really like this dress picking thing. He'd only come along because Iria had begged him to, and he never refused her if he could.

Although Iria was not usually the one to emphasize her beauty, she twirled in front of the mirror and looked at Nate.

"Well Dad, how do I look?" She asked.

"Beautiful as always honey." He replied. "You'd look beautiful in anything."

She giggled as she usually did. He'd always thought that that giggle was very cute. He grinned at her as she went to try out another.

A few hours passed before Elena and Iria finally settled on a dress and purchased it. It was stored in a large plastic bag shaped to the dresses form before they got out and headed to the van. Nate leaned back and relaxed after such a long time of waiting for them as he turned on the car. As Iria sat in the passenger's seat and Elena sat in the back, something finally seemed to hit her.

"Holy crap, I'm getting married." She said. Nate laughed.

"Yes you are." He said. The put his hand on her shoulder before he started driving.

"Honey, don't worry. You'll be fine." Elena said. Iria just blinked and bit her lip nervously.

When they arrived back at the Mansion, where Iria was staying at the moment as she prepared for the wedding, she still seemed to be in shock. Still, she mechanically left the car as Nate shut it off and climbed out as well. She walked up to the house ahead of them eyes forward.

"She's acting like you when we were getting married the first time." She said. "It took a bit to hit you, but then… bam."

They stepped inside to find Iria holding Nate and Elena's latest child Timothy. He was now six years old and very cute. Donnie's mother Marion had been taking care of him as she quite frequently did and then smiled at them as she started to head out.

"Well, got to get back." Marion said. She grinned with excitement as she stepped out of the door and headed for her own car. Nate walked ahead and took his son from his daughter's arms.

"How are you doing Timmy?" Nate asked him.

"Daddy!" Timmy responded. "I built 'dis huge tower from these things Mary called "Legos"."

Nate smiled.

"I bet you did." He said.

"Well, I think I need to calm down a bit. I'm going to go read in the library for a while." Iria said as she headed up the stairs.

A few hours passed uneventfully as day turned into night and Nate climbed into bed. Elena meanwhile clicked on the baby monitor for Timmy as she had just put him to bed and then climbed up next to him; she rested on his outstretched arm.

"Something tells me the next week is going to be very tiring." He told her.

"Definitely. These wedding preparations are crazy and we haven't even scratched the surface." Elena said. "Donnie's family wants it to be the best possible."

"It'll be a far cry from our wedding. Just small and relaxed is what I prefer." He replied.

"Me to. Although, hardly anyone was at our wedding." She said.

"You do have a…" Nate started to say. He was interrupted as suddenly something came over the baby monitor.

"Mommy, I can't sleep, can you come and read me a bedtime story?" Timmy asked. Elena sighed and sat up.

"I can take this one if you want." Nate said.

"No, don't worry about it." She replied. She left. Nate, bored, went to sleep as Elena's voice poured over the monitor.

Several hours later, Nate heard two bangs close by. He sat up and looked around.

"What the hell was that?" He asked himself. He looked at the clock. It had been four hours and Elena was still missing from where she was supposed to be in bed. He stood up from the bed and put on his slippers before stepping out into the dark hallway. "Hello? Elena? Where are you?"

Suddenly, there was a noise that would end up scarring him inside for the rest of his life. Two gunshots rang out in the direction of the library, and he heard a scream he recognized as his daughters.

"Iria!" He said to himself. He ran to a small drawer and quickly extracted a loaded 9 millimeter pistol before sprinting over in the direction of the library. Five men were inside holding pistols with sound suppressors attached. There were two dead bodies on the floor and Iria popped out from behind a desk to fire at the men, but they all fired at once, and Iria was thrown back onto the floor and rolled. "No!"

He started firing and three of the men went down, but two more sprint and jumped through the glass window. They were only on the second story, so they could easily roll out of the fall with no injury. He wasn't concerned about them though, he ran over to his daughter, she was coughing blood onto the ground and three bullet holes were in her chest.

"Iria. Oh god." He said. "No, this isn't happening."

He tried to press down on her wounds and stop the bleeding, she gasped in pain.

"D-Dad… I tried…" She said.

"You did fine." He said. "You killed two of them, you held your own. Hold on, we're going to get you to a hospital."

"N-No." She said. "I'm… I'm finished. They took Mom… Mom and Timmy. You… you have to go after them."

"They'll be fine; if they took them they don't plan to kill them. I can track them down later." He said. His fear and tension were reaching new heights as she coughed out more blood.

"No Dad. The nearest hospital is twenty minutes away; I'm not going to live that long… already lost… too much blood." She said. He could see she was telling the truth, but he denied it as tears poured from his eyes. A pool of blood was already forming under his daughter.

"Come on Iria. Don't die on me. Don't die." Nate said.

"Dad, that's enough." She said. "You take care of them. Tell… Donnie… tell him I loved him. I loved him so much. You go after Mom… you tell her I loved her to. Harry to…"

"Please Iria…" Nate said.

"I love you Dad." She said. "Don't… don't let this ruin you."

"I love you to Iria." He said. She raised her bloody hand and put it against the side of his face. He put his hand on top of hers as he felt her strength ebb away. She smiled weakly at him… and then life faded from her eyes and her hand fell from his grip. "NO!"

He stood up, he heard the sound of engines turning on outside. Grief was immediately replaced by anger and a thirst of revenge, and he screamed as he followed the men who had killed his daughter out of the window. The terrain around here was unstable and the trucks were not all-terrain, so as the trucks started to drive away, they drove slowly.

There was no time to get to his van, and he raced for the horse stables they owned for a method of transportation. Memories raced through his mind as he thought of his now dead daughter and everything seemed to go in slow motion as he ran.

He remembered holding Iria as a baby 22 years ago… his beautiful daughter in his arms knowing that he would never let go of her. He had lied to himself that day. He had let her go. He remembered other things as well. He remembered teaching her how to shoot, talking to Donnie and then having her laugh at the aftermath, taking her out for her first beer on her 21st birthday…

This was so wrong. It was so wrong. He should've died, not her. She was innocent. He was a criminal. He couldn't think of who would be evil enough to kill his daughter in his head. Why had they come here? Why would they kill her?

He would think about this later though. He made a new promise to himself now. He promised himself that at any cost, he would avenge his daughter. No matter what. He got to the stables and he climbed onto a horse. It turned out to be Harry's favorite, Oscar. Iria had always been afraid of the horses, so she didn't have a favorite herself.

Still, this memory tore him apart inside even more as he made Oscar take off after the vehicles. As he managed to get into range of them, he opened fire with his pistol screaming.

"I'll kill you!"

Suddenly though, a blond head poked out of one of the windows of the trucks and he saw Elena and he stopped firing at the vehicle.

"Nate!" She yelled.

"Elena!" He yelled back. Suddenly, a gunshot rang out and Oscar collapsed underneath him and he rolled as he hit the ground hard. He quickly got up and tried to run after the vehicles on foot. "ELENA!"

But they were too fast, and they disappeared from his sight.

"Elena… no…" He said. He dropped onto his hands and knees and let his tears free. "Iria…"

He looked up at the sky.

"NOOOOOOO!"

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**It really hurt me to write that… Read and review…**


	2. Chapter 2: Unknown Foe

**Uncharted: Missing**

**By Obrusnine**

* * *

**Last updated: November 25****th****, 2012 fD**

**(ED: Basic Edit / RW: Rewrite / fD: First Draft / FD: Final Draft)**

* * *

**Chapter 2: Unknown Foe**

"_It is impossible to suffer without making someone pay for it; every complaint already contains revenge." __**–Friedrich Nietzsche**_

* * *

Nate walked back to the house slowly. He felt empty and robbed. His feet were bare and had been torn up by the run from the house and now this walk back, but he didn't care. He didn't even feel it. When he saw the house in the distance, he just lowered his eyes. He made no effort at speed.

The righteous anger that had filled him before was gone. Now he just felt grief. His daughter was dead, his wife and son were kidnapped, and he was alone. As he stepped inside, he fell to his knees and looked around, unsure of himself.

This was his fault, how could he have allowed this to happen? He saw the phone and he crawled over to it. He looked at it initially unsure who to call, but finally dialed a number.

"Hello Nate, how's it going?" Tom said as he picked up. "It's kinda early don't you think?"

"Tom…" He said. "Tom…"

"Nate?" Tom asked. "What's wrong?"

"Iria… Elena… Timothy… all gone." Nate replied.

"Wait, what? Nate, you aren't making sense."

"Iria's _dead _Tom. She's dead…"

"Oh my god. What happened?"

"Men… broke into my house… took Elena and Timmy… killed Iria." Nate said. He started to sob a little. "They killed Iria."

"Stay where you are, I'm going to be right there. Got that?" Tom said.

"Yea… yea…" Nate said incoherently. Tom hung up and Nate let the phone drop from his hands and stood up. He slowly walked up the stairs and headed into the library. He stepped through puddles of blood that created bloody footprints underfoot as he collapsed onto his knees next to Iria's body.

Her eyes were still open; he reached forward and closed them with his hand so that she just looked like she was sleeping. Then he lifted her body in his arms and hugged her.

"I'm so sorry." Nate said. "I said I'd never let you go… Now you're gone…"

He held her as he slowly lowered her head back to the floor and cried into her shoulder. He just stayed there and waited until he finally heard footsteps behind him. He grabbed his gun and pointed it behind him to find Tom standing there.

"It's just me Nate." Tom said. Nate dropped the gun and it hit the floor. "Oh my god."

He walked up to Nate's side and crouched down. He didn't look up at his godfather.

"It was my fault… I didn't get there in time… I couldn't save her…" He said to Tom without looking up.

"No it wasn't your fault Nate. You couldn't have known." Tom said.

"HOW DO YOU KNOW!?" Nate yelled at him finally turning to look at him. "You weren't even here!"

"I know you Nate. You did what you could." Tom replied. He put his arm over Nate's shoulder. "Now Nate, you need to focus. There will be time for this later. Elena and Timmy were taken and we need to find out by whom so we can get them back."

"How can I get them back if I couldn't even save my own daughter?" Nate asked. "I should've been there to take these bullets for her."

There were more footsteps, but these were running and frantic.

"Dad, what's going on? Tom called me and…" Harry said. But he stopped as he walked into the room and saw his father holding his sister's dead body in his arms. Tears sprouted from his eyes as he stumbled forward. "No… no…"

"Harry…" Nate said. "All my fault… all my fault…"

Harry rushed forward in anger and pulled him off of Iria's body and threw him against the nearby bookcase before grabbing him by the collar.

"What did you do!?" Harry asked angrily.

"Harry stop it now." Tom said. "It wasn't really his fault. He was too late."

"That's just as good as killing her himself! He should've been quicker!" Harry yelled. But even he could feel his argument waning as his anger succumbed to grief and tears started pouring from his eyes.

"This isn't important right now. We need to…" Tom started to say.

"IT ISN'T IMPORTANT!?" Nate yelled. "My daughter's dead and it isn't important?"

He grabbed a book from the desk and tossed it in Tom's direction, but he sidestepped it.

"SHE'S FREAKING DEAD! She's dead…"

Tom walked up to him and grabbed him by the collar.

"That's not what I meant and you know it!" Tom said in his face angrily. "I loved her. She was my damn goddaughter. So don't you ever _ever _insinuate that this is not important to me."

"I know… I'm sorry…" Nate replied.

"You need to get a hold of yourself son and concentrate." Tom said. "We need to find out who these people are and track down Elena and Timothy."

"What? They took Mom and my little brother?" Harry asked.

"Yes, and we need to get them back." Tom said.

"Then you better count me in." He replied as he bent down next to his sister's corpse.

"That may not be such a good idea." Tom replied biting his lip. "You've never liked guns; you don't know how to shoot one…"

"Then I can learn." Harry answered. "These bastards killed my sister, and if you don't think I want to go and safe my Mom just as much you do, you're crazy."

There was suddenly a call from the front hall.

"Who's that?" Tom asked. Harry rushed and grabbed a gun from one of the dead men's corpses.

"Chloe… Charlie… were supposed to fly in today…" Nate whispered. Harry walked over to the door.

"We're in here!" He called.

There were some footsteps that got closer over time. Harry and Tom pointed their guns towards the door in expectancy just in-case.

"Well, that's not a very nice greeting is it…" Charlie started to say before he and Chloe rounded the corner and saw guns pointed at them. He raised his hands. "Whoa, what's this?"

"Uncle Charlie… sorry." Harry said he lowered his gun as did Tom then dropped it on the ground. Chloe looked about the room and spotted Nate crouching down next to Iria's body.

"Oh god… Nate…" She said as she walked over.

"What's going on around here… is that…?" Charlie started to ask. "Oh no… no… no… no… no."

He put his hands on his head as he too was unable to deal with what he was seeing and stepped back until he hit the wall and slid down into a sitting position.

"Unfortunately, yes." Tom replied. Chloe bent down next to Nate and put her arm around him.

"I know this hurts Nate…" She said. "But you have to tell me what happened."

"I'll take care of that." Tom said. "A bunch of men broke into the house about an hour ago. Killed Iria, grabbed Elena and Timothy, then left."

He bent down and unmasked one of the men to reveal a pale white face eyes wide open. He grabbed the man's weapon.

".45 Defender…" He whispered. "High-tech military equipment. Special tactics level training…"

"So Tom, you were SAS. Who do you think did this?" Harry asked.

"Well, these men were professionals." Tom said. "They seemed to know the position of everyone in the house before they hit. They slipped up a little on Iria, but they still handled it. This equipment isn't the standard issue of any agency I'm familiar with so I'm guessing a Private Military Corporation did this.

"Not you're standard PMC though. Equipment isn't standard issue for them either. So I'm guessing these guys have got some connections. They also left the bodies, which mean they probably won't be identifiable."

"So do you know who did it or not?" Charlie asked. "These bastards need to pay."

"I have a few ideas, but I'm going to need to ask a few contacts before I can get any solid leads." Tom said. "First rule of my business is that you don't make assumptions."

"Go then, we'll hold things down here." Harry said.

"Fine then." Tom said. "I'm… gonna call Donnie first. He deserves to know."

"Fine, just go."

Tom nodded in response and left.

"Nate… are you alright?" Chloe asked.

"Do I look alright to you?" Nate asked back.

"No. But we're going to get these bastards. I promise you."

"Do you think I care? Even if we do kill them… get Elena and Timothy back… is that going to get my daughter back? No… no it isn't."

"It doesn't mean you give up on the people you've got left Dad." Harry said.

"I'm not giving up on them." Nate said. "I'm just making a point."

"I understand." Harry said.

"I just… I can't believe this." Charlie said from over in the corner. He was crying to now. "She… I held her… I held her that day."

"So did I Charlie. I'm her father. How do you think I feel?" Nate asked.

"I didn't mean it like that mate…" Charlie said. "I'm just saying… this… this is horrible."

"Yes it is Charlie." Chloe said. "Yes it is."

"Dad… we're going to need to move these bodies." Harry said. "We need to bury her, and we can't bring the police in on this. You know they'd shut us down."

"I hate to say it but he's right." Chloe said. "We need to get rid of these bodies and clean up this mess…"

"My daughter isn't a mess…" Nate said.

"That's not what I meant love." Chloe said. "You… just stay there. We'll take care of her last."

"Fine then."

The rest of them got to work removing the bodies and taking them out into the yard. When they were done, they piled the bodies up and covered them in gasoline before lighting them on fire. Then they came back inside. It had been hours, yet still Nate had not moved an inch, and the smell was starting to come.

"She's going to start decomposing soon love." Chloe said. "You know you don't want to see her like that. We… we need to go bury her alright?"

"Yea… yea I know. Just… just give me a bit longer." Nate said.

"You take as long as you need." She said. "We're going to go start digging the grave. Harry… you stay here and say your goodbyes to."

"Yea… alright." Harry replied. He fell onto his knees next to his father and looked at his sister's corpse. The busywork up until now had kept him occupied and distracted, but now all he could do was release his emotions and he cried. "Why did this have to happen…?"

"Life isn't fair son…" Nate said. "It just isn't."

"But why does it have to be like that?" Harry asked. "Why?"

"I don't know any more than you do son. She didn't deserve this." Nate replied. "She deserved to get married, to be happy, and she got this."

There were more footsteps behind them all of a sudden and they heard Donnie's voice.

"Hey, I came as soon as I could, Tom wouldn't tell me what is…" He trailed off as he stepped into the room and saw his fiancé's body. "No… No…"

He came to them next.

"No… Who did this? Who?" Donnie asked.

"We still don't know." Harry said. "But we're going after them."

"We need to get the police…" Donnie said making to stand up. Harry grabbed his arm.

"That's not how we do things." Harry said. "The police won't go on a multinational hunt, they don't have the jurisdiction and they won't dedicate the resources either."

"But…"

"No buts." Harry said. "The police won't help. Whoever did this is going to pay, and it's going to be because we hunt them down and kill them."

"Fine… but I'm coming to." Donnie replied.

"But you don't know how to fire a gun…" Harry said echoing Tom's earlier sentiment. "You don't have what it takes for that anyways. You don't come from our family."

"That may be the case. But she was my fiancé." Donnie said. "Maybe I can't fire a gun and shoot people, but I can do other things."

"Oh yea?" Nate asked. "Like what?"

"I'm… pretty good with maps and stuff. I can drive pretty well. I'm also an analyst at a big company; you never know when that can help you." Donnie said.

"Those aren't talents we need Donnie." Harry assured him.

"You aren't leaving me out of this." He said angrily. "If you don't take me, then I'm going to the cops."

"Fine then." Nate said. "But you better not get in our way."

"I won't Mr. Drake. You can count on that."

"Good. Let's all get our revenge." Nate said looking up.


	3. Chapter 3: Descent

**Uncharted: Missing**

**By Obrusnine**

* * *

**Last updated: November 25****th****, 2012 fD**

**(ED: Basic Edit / RW: Rewrite / fD: First Draft / FD: Final Draft)**

* * *

**Chapter 3: Descent**

"_I should never be left alone with my mind for too long." __**–Libba Bray**_

* * *

When the time came, Nate picked up Iria's body himself. They had all said their own goodbyes, if not out loud, in their minds. He tried to distance himself from everything, to close himself off to the pain, but he found this was impossible, so he just wallowed in it as he lowered Iria into the grave the others had dug.

They tried to help him fill in the grave afterwards, but he would not have it. He pushed them away and filled it in himself as the others looked on silently. When he was done, his fingers were starting to blister and he was exhausted, but it was as if he didn't even feel these things. He didn't say a word as he threw the shovel to the ground and went into the kitchen with the others behind him.

He pulled out a bottle of Whiskey and sat down drinking directly out of it. The others all grabbed beers, even Harry, and they toasted Iria while Nate sat and paid no attention to it, only the feelings the bottle gave him… or rather… the ones they stripped away. He didn't know when, but eventually, he lost consciousness and was dreaming.

_He was standing in a large field, he saw a form in the distance and he walked toward it. He saw blonde hair and a wedding dress. Then the form turned around to reveal Iria. Nate ran after her, stretching out his hand. He tried to speak, to yell, but no words came out. She reached her hand out to him, but suddenly, men in black clothing appeared carrying guns and shot her before turning their guns on him and shooting him._

Now he woke up. He was lying in his bed and he wondered how he had gotten there. His reached around, trying to find the bottle of Whiskey he'd been drinking but it wasn't there, so he stood up and went out into the hallway. He looked right down the hallway and saw Tom, he lifted his hand to reveal the bottle of Whiskey he'd been drinking, it still had a little in it.

"Looking for this?" Tom asked.

"Give that back." Nate said trying to run after it. But Tom threw it down into the hall where it shattered on the floor. Nate ran down to the ground floor to find everyone standing around.

"What are you doing Dad?" Harry asked.

"I… I don't know." He replied. Suddenly, the door flew open and men in black uniforms entered carrying guns. They started shooting, and the first one to go down was Harry. "What? No!"

He looked behind him to find Tom pulling out a pistol. The men in uniforms were not shooting at him even as the others went down; he crawled over to his son's body to protect him from any more harm. He turned about to find Tom pointing the pistol at him.

"I'm sorry about this Nate." He said, and then he fired.

He woke up again. This time he was lying in the desert sands. He crawled forward as he felt his dry and parched lips and his thirst. He saw a large rock outcropping ahead and he raced to it to hide in its shadow. As he lay there, words he had imagined long ago came into his mind once again.

"_Only there is shadow under this red rock, come in under the shadow of this red rock, and I will show you something different." _Marlowe's voice echoed. _"From either your shadow at morning striding behind you… or your shadow at evening rising to meet you. I will show you fear in a handful of dust." _

The rock faded and he was lying on the floor of the castle dungeon. As he stood he saw Stacey, the Templar he had briefly met years before, standing before him. Her eyes were gone and she seemed to be a rotting corpse, only she was standing and looking at him.

"_Come here Drake, and rest in the bowels of hell." She said. "Death is blissful release, whether in heaven you reside, or in hell you burn." _

"No… no…" Nate replied. He pushed passed her and headed up the castle stairs. When he opened the door, he was standing on the rock outcropping above the clouds. Sully was standing before him. "Sully?"

"_Come on kid, come stay with us." He said. _

He fell backwards off of the rock outcropping and Nate dived forward and grabbed his hand. His weight was more than expected though, and they both went falling off of the edge. As he fell through the clouds, he felt none of the moisture that should be present, and then standing before him on nothing even as the air rushed passed him was Sully, and he was hugging Iria.

"_Come on Dad." She said. _

"I… I can't. I have to stop the people who killed you…" Nate said. She turned away disapprovingly and started to walk away. "No… no!"

Then they were gone and he was lying face flat on the ground. He looked up to find himself in the village he had been at during the hunt for the Cintamani Stone. Elena was there, and she laughed and ran.

"Wait… wait!" Nate said. He stood up and ran after her through the empty village until they went into Schaefer's house and she turned.

"_Don't be afraid." She said. "Life and death are one in the same. Darkness rests in both, and hell holds only a black fire."_

He ran to her and he tried to hug her, but she disappeared in a flash of black smoke. Then he was alone in a black abyss and he fell to his knees. Then, yet again, he awoke.

He was in bed. Only this time the bottle of Whiskey was next to him on the floor, it was shattered and what was remaining was all over the floor. He climbed out of bed and grabbed a Beretta M92F from a drawer next to his bed before stepping outside of his room. Tom was walking towards him with a grave look on his face. Nate pointed his gun at him.

"No more of these games!" He yelled.

"Nate, what the hell are you doing?" Tom asked raising his hands.

"It was you… you killed them all." Nate replied.

"What are you talking about? I was coming up here to check if you had woken up yet." He replied. "Now put it down."

"No… no…" Nate whispered. His hands were shaking and the gun was flailing all over the place. Tom put his hands down and started walking towards him.

"I know you're in pain Nate…" He said. He grabbed the gun gently from Nate's hands and dropped it to the ground before pulling Nate into an embrace he did not return. "Don't let it control you."

"Yea… okay… I'm… sorry."

Tom released him.

"I know who did it."

"Who?" Nate asked. "Who killed her?"

"Come down to the kitchen after you've cleaned yourself up. You're a mess." Tom said. "I'll tell you then."

Nate nodded as Tom left. He headed towards the bathroom and he climbed into the shower and ran cold water. He only washed himself half-heartedly before stepping out of the shower and looking at his reflection. His face was haunted, only reinforced by his five-o-clock shadow and the seemingly empty look in his eyes.

As he shaved, he nicked himself multiple times but did not curse as he barely even felt it. When he was done, he dressed even though he was still partially wet. His hair remained a mess as he stepped out of the bathroom and headed downstairs into the kitchen. Tom looked disappointed in Nate's look as he entered but made no comment as he grabbed a beer from the fridge and sat down.

"Nate… maybe you shouldn't…" Chloe said trying to grab the beer from him. He pulled away making sure she couldn't touch it. She sighed and looked back at Tom as he set down a roll of paper and rolled it out to reveal a poster of a corporation no one had ever heard of. Onkler Analysis.

"Wait, that's the people I work for." Donnie said from the corner. "Why are you pulling that poster out?"

"This company is supposedly a front to hide behind." Tom said. "They say its corporate analysis, and they employ workers that do exactly that like you Donnie, but that isn't their real objective."

"That's crazy. How do you know that?" He asked.

"A few contacts in the CIA have been investigating it recently as a string of weapons transactions led back to it from shell companies." Tom said. "This was one of the many secret looking companies I looked into to find out who exactly who stormed the house tonight."

"So… what makes this so special?" Charlie asked.

"Well, turned out a name I fed to a CIA contact about 22 years ago turned a hit from this companies records." Tom said.

"Oh really? Who?" Harry asked.

"Clara Hopkins." He replied. Nate sat up.

"Clara Hopkins as in the leader of the Seekers of the Lost?" He asked in surprise.

"Yes." Tom said. "She quit about 20 years ago, which makes sense because that's about the time the Templar's were brought down. I'm guessing she was probably making sure everything went smoothly. But that's not what really worries me. Onkler Analysis used to be a shell company for the known public front of the Templars, Paradigm Industries, before it was bought down by the permanent suspension of business decree."

"So how does this proof anything?" Chloe asked.

"Well, the coincidences started stacking up so I looked even closer." Tom said. "So I looked into their recently purchased property and found a few small warehouses. I only needed to break into one, the one in the town very close by. I found disposed of equipment like those guys are wearing and pictures of Iria, Elena, and Timothy."

"Holy crap…" Donnie said. "Do you… think they hired me so they could get to you guys? Shit…"

"Looks that way." Tom said.

"None of this matters, did you find out where Elena and Timothy were taken or not?" Nate asked.

"Unfortunately, no." He replied. "I'm looking into more leads now though, I just need more time. But you all needed to know this."

"Fine. I don't need to be here anymore." Nate replied. "You need me, I'll be at the bar."

He stood up and left.

"Nate!" Chloe called. Charlie grabbed his wife's shoulder gently and held her back.

"No, leave him alone. He needs some time love." Charlie said. She sighed and sat back down.

"Shit!" She yelled slamming her fist down into the table. Harry shook his head and left as well. Tom bade his goodbye and left to pursue more leads.


	4. Chapter 4: Bar Fight

…**and now… an intense return chapter!**

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**Uncharted: Missing**

**By Obrusnine**

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**Last Updated: February 18****th****, 2013**

**(ED: Basic Edit / RW: Rewrite / fD: First Draft / FD: Final Draft)**

* * *

**Chapter 4: Bar Fight**

"_You never really know what's coming. A small wave, or maybe a big one. All you can really do is hope that when it comes, you can surf over it, instead of drown in its monstrosity." __**–Alysha Speer**_

* * *

Nate almost regretted reaching town and the bar without encountering a single police officer. He felt that he should be punished, but he hadn't been pulled over for driving drunk, and that was that. He left his car parked haphazardly on the sidewalk and climbed out. He tried to drink from his bottle of beer, but found it was empty. He dropped it to shatter on the ground and walked into the bar.

Music was playing on the speakers. He didn't want to hear it, so he drew his gun and shot them out. The few women in the room screamed and the men just flipped around putting on tough guy facades.

"Get out." He said. "We're closed for the day."

"Oh, and who do you think you are?" One of the drunken men said from the bar.

"I own this bar." Nate said bringing his pistol to aim at the man. "Now get out."

He cocked the pistol and the man glared at him.

"Proof it." The man replied.

"He does own this bar sir." The bartender said.

"This is private property, and at the moment, you are all trespassing." Nate said. "We reserve the right to deny service to anyone. NOW GET OUT!"

The man grudgingly stood up and left, as did nearly everyone else in the bar. There was one woman though, she came to stand next to him. He looked at her and she looked him in the eyes.

"You need to leave." Nate said.

"I can see you're suffering from some kind of emotional pain. Don't give into it." She replied.

"Sir?" The bartender asked curiously.

"I meant you get out to." Nate told him.

"Of… of course…"

The bartender left as he raised the gun at the woman.

"Oh, and what are you, some sort of shrink?" Nate asked. "Do you think I care? Get out."

"You shouldn't give into your rage like that Nathan." She replied starting to walk circles around him.

"How do you know my name?" He said following her with his gun as she walked around him.

"All of us know your name Mr. Drake."

"You're… you're one of them!" He yelled. He swung a punch at her, but she caught it with one hand and bent his hand backwards. This drove him to his knees as he brought his gun around in an attempt to shoot her in the leg. But she slapped the gun out of his hand and spin-kicked him in the face and down onto the floor.

She climbed up onto his stomach and drew a gun of her own from her purse before driving it up against his neck.

"Surely you recognize me Nate." She said. "Maybe it's my American accent."

She cleared her throat, and starting speaking in a British accent.

"As far as I remember, the last time we met you promised me a rematch."

Nate's eyes widened as he remembered.

"_Fine, but the next time I see you, we're going at it again." _

"Stacey?" He asked with widened eyes.

"The one and only."

She was older now, her hair was different, and her all black uniform was far different from the Templar one she had worn 22 years ago… but it was her alright. Or, at least, from what he could remember of her face from their last brief meeting.

"So… you came for your rematch?" Nate asked. "Well, you won, just get it over with and kill me already."

He dropped his head to the right and prepared. She grabbed his head and leaned it back towards her as she pressed the gun to the side of his head, and pulled the trigger. But nothing happened, just the sound of a distinct, _click._

She started laughing as she got off of him and threw the gun away. He stood up looking at her.

"What the hell is so funny?" He asked. "Where is my family!?"

He threw a punch and she side-stepped it so that he stopped and tried to turn around, but she tripped him up first.

"You're too angry to beat me this time." She replied. "But calm down, I don't know where they are."

"Then what the hell are you here for? Aren't you out of work?"

"I never worked for the Templars Nate."

"What? Then you were a mole for the Seekers?"

"No, if I was I would've broken you out. I work for a more… official… organization."

Suddenly, the door opened and Tom walked in.

"She works for the CIA Nate." He said. Nate's eyes widened as he looked at his godfather.

"The… CIA?" Nate asked.

"Yes." Stacey piped in. "Although, if I had known what you were out to do and who the Seekers were, I probably would've let you go a lot easier than I did. My objective was to advance as high in the organization as possible and try and find a weakness that I could use to bring them down."

"So you didn't want to blow your cover…"

"Exactly. Although, I suppose it was fortunate you are so good." Stacey said. "Still, I'm glad that was over. That operation sucked, I didn't get paid for it and the conditions were terrible. No operational support or anything… Mostly because if anyone found out what I was doing then the Templars probably would've cleaned house at the CIA."

"I was working under similar conditions at the SAS." Tom replied. "Hunting down an organization that can get to your bosses is rather difficult. Still, I've known Stacey for what… thirty years? I'm glad you didn't hurt her back then."

"Why didn't you tell me this earlier?" Nate asked.

"You never asked, and it wasn't important at the time."

"Why is she here now?"

"Because I'm calling in a favor." Tom replied.

"To help find Elena and Timothy?" Nate asked.

"Well… sort of. Indirectly."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"He means you need to straighten out." Stacey said. "You're in no condition right now to give chase to the people you're after. You couldn't even take me, and I was going easy on you."

"Well screw you, I can do just fine thank you." Nate replied turning around and heading towards the bar.

"I'm not asking you to cooperate Nate." Tom said frowning mournfully.

"Oh, so what is it, an order?"

"Yes." Tom said with a sigh.

"Well, why don't you try and take me somewhere old man? You're in your eighties, I would love to see you try and fight me."

"I'm not fighting anyone, Stacey came here to take you by force if you wouldn't cooperate. I… didn't expect you to."

He nodded towards Stacey and she approached Nate. He grabbed an empty bottle off of the bar and broke it in half so that it was sharp and turned towards Stacey.

"I'm not going." He said. "Now get out of my bar, both of you!"

"I'm really sorry about this Nate. But lives are at stake, and they are worth more than the time you need to cope."

"You don't understand…!" Nate yelled at him.

"Either you are angry, drunk, or just stupid… I know! I lost my wife! I just lost my Niece to! But there are more important things at stake here, and our feelings can wait for later! At least you have the advantage of someone telling you that things have to be done, otherwise you would just sit and rot here while your family suffers."

"I'm all of those things…" Nate replied letting his improvised weapon falter a bit. "I'm a failure."

"We talked about this earlier, it wasn't your fault."

"It doesn't matter what you say! It doesn't change what I'm feeling inside! I let my daughter die! I let my family get kidnapped! How am I supposed to help them?"

"By enduring Nate! By picking yourself up, cleaning yourself off, and doing what has to be done. Your life is still important to, and without that, all you'll do is go and get yourself killed… and then what's your family going to do? Is your son going to grow up without his father?"

"My life isn't important. I go… I don't go… it won't change the outcome. I'm useless. My son deserves better than me."

"Enough, this isn't going anywhere." Stacey said stepping towards Nate again. He raised his weapon.

"Stay away from me. Why can't you just leave me alone?" He asked.

"You already know the answer to that one Nate." Tom said.

"Yea, I do, but I don't understand it."

As he said this though, he took his attention off of Stacey, and she was able to deliver a swift kick to the bottle in his hand, sending it flying before spinning in the opposite direction for a downwards swipe kick. He caught her leg in his hand though and lifted it up. Instead of falling though, she switched to a handstand and locked her legs together on top of Nate's arm before twisting it so that he would let go.

When he did she back flipped back onto her feet and assumed a combat stance. He threw another drunken punch and she side-stepped before punching him across the face. While he was disoriented, she spun him around and kicked him on the backside and over the bar. He groaned as he stood up, but he smiled as he realized she had given him an opportunity.

He grabbed beer bottles, plates, cups, and anything else he could reach and started throwing it at her. She weaved to dodge the flying objects while Tom hid behind a corner.

"Enough of this." She finally said. She grabbed a plate out of the air and sent it flying back at Nate. This forced him to duck as she rushed forward and leapt over the bar. He stood back up, blocking as she punched him. She then threw a kick dead center towards his crossed arms. This was a mistake, he dropped his arms a bit and caught her foot between them.

He then threw it upward, making her fall backwards off of her feet.

"Ouch!" She said as Nate climbed on top of her and held her down.

"Here we are again." Nate said.

"Not going to be as easy this time, I came prepared."

Suddenly, she cut at his leg with a knife in her hand causing him to jump up.

"Aren't you supposed to take me alive?" He asked.

"Good point…" She said frowning at the knife before throwing it away. Realizing that he had the advantage here, she grabbed a beer bottle from the bar and threw it at up, forcing him to back off. Then, she ran forward and kicked him hard. This sent him flying out of the bar and onto the floor rolling. Then, she pulled out a Taser gun.

"Ah crap." Nate said. He quickly ran for the fire exit out in the alley out back. She fired the Taser gun but missed as he sprinted outside. There was a sound of opening doors as he looked around, but he barely noticed as he ran towards the front. As he rounded the alley corner though, an arm suddenly leapt out and he was clotheslined by Tom. This sent him flying downwards onto his back.

Tom grunted in pain and rubbed his arm as Nate stood up, but as he got back to his feet, cold metal pressed into his neck and suddenly all he knew was pain.

"Not so fast cowboy." Stacey said as he fell to the ground in pain. "Geez, he's still a handful."

"Sorry…" He said. Then he looked at his godson. "Sorry about this to."

"I'm not." Stacey piped in.

"What…?" Nate asked. But suddenly, Stacey kicked him in the head hard and he blacked out.


End file.
