Chapter Text
Forces of Nature
By: S-Dragon123
Chapter 1 – A Chance Meeting
Istanbul, Turkey
“Sorry, no hard feelings mate,” Nathan Drake mocked in a fake British accent, mimicking his asshole of a ‘partner’. “Oh yeah?” he said switching back to his own voice, making his other hand into the shape of a gun, “click pesh pesh pesh! Ahhhhh!” Dropping his hand to his chest, the caged explorer made it spasm while he uttered a few more ‘dying noises’ before it went still. “Feh…” the brunette spat sitting up on his bed. The days had been going by so slow. He felt like he’s been locked up for months, when according to his chalk-tally-mark calendar, it had only been a few weeks. How he’d made it this long without losing his damn mind was a fucking miracle. The prison was hot, dirty, and smelt more like a zoo then a prison. He did his best to keep clean when he could, but for the most part that just meant cleaning his clothes, and sometimes his hair when it rained out. Least he had his own cell now. Sharing with another 7 full grown ass adults got down right unbearable. One of the guys got turfed to the crazy ward and 2 were transferred to different blocks, before Nate got moved himself. As to the specific reasons as to why he was given the small luxury of his own cell was unknown, but he wasn’t about to argue. Least he didn’t have to feel so self-conscious about jabbering to himself in the corner any more.
Suddenly, he hears the door to the cell block open and a stream of Turkish words. Nate did not catch all of it, but he did hear the word ‘American’, which is what the guards called him, seeing as he was one of the only ones in the entire prison. He laid back out on his cot and pretended to be sleeping as he heard a duo of footsteps approaching his cell. They edged closer, slowing to a stop just outside the bars. The clanking of the keys reverberated off the walls as the guard unlocked the cell door and shuffled the individual inside. “Company for Mr. Drake,” he spat with a thick Turkish accent.
Nathan only cracked an eyelid before giving a fake yawn and waving the guard off. The Turkish man only huffed before relocking the barred door and pacing away, leaving the two alone. Drake sat up and gave the newcomer a once over.
A first glance, the man looked like a drifter. He was lean yet muscular, but his face looked thin, like he’d missed quite a few meals in the past month, maybe two? His inch-long hair was a dark, dirty blonde and mussed from lack of care. The clothing on his back was loose and tattered at the knees of the cargo pants. Rugged stubble dusted his jawline and upper lip and a lone, jagged scar was etched into his skin from his brow all the way down to his mouth. From the looks of the nice shiner on his cheek, Nathan could tell the guards were none too nice with him while he was booked, if one could call just being hauled in, ridded of their possessions, and locked up ‘booking’.
The drifter had thin eyes, but a prominent brow and straight nose. He fixed Nathan with those narrow, almost neon blue eyes. They seemed to be searching the brunette’s face for something, but before Nate could even mentally inquire about it, the stranger broke the stare and passed to the other side of the cell.
Sitting on the cold, stone floor next to what would now be his bed, he pulled his knees to his chest, folded his arms over the tops, and rested his head on them, giving a tired sigh.
Nathan was unsure how to go about interacting with this character, but it was not for lack of trying. “Hey there…you speak any English?”
The stranger’s head rose, his face colored with surprise – like surprised to hear someone speak clear ass English - before he nodded slightly.
“What you get picked up for?” Drake probed further.
No answer.
“Must not be too bad if they stuck you here,” Nate drawled trying to get a conversation going. But the stranger only ducked his head back down to his arms. From his body language, Nathan could tell the newcomer was in no mood for small talk. Shame, he was actually looking forward to having someone to talk to other then himself.
Silence once again dominated the small cell block, save for the stranger’s breathing, which had turned into a light snore. Guy must have been really exhausted.
Soon, it was meal time, and like clockwork, the portions were delivered to each cell, but when the guards got to Drake’s cell, there was only one tray pushed though the slot. “Hey!” Nate called, “There’s two of us in here ya know!”
“Sorry, we forgot,” one of the prison hacks sneered, “Looks like you are sharing with new friend.”
Nate growled under his breath, flipping the guy off when his back was turned. Looking down at the tray of food – nothing more than then bread, brown rice, and a few steamed veggies - then to the still snoozing stranger, he sighed, knowing what he should do. He picked up the tray and paced over to the man. “Hey…wake up,” he whispered, “come on..” he coaxed further, shaking the stranger’s shoulder.
“H-huh?!” the blonde’s head snapped up and he looked about with confused eyes.
“Easy champ,” Nathan said, “it’s chow time. I know it don’t look like much, but it’s food.” The other looked at the tray of food then back up at that Nathan; his facial expression seemed to be asking if the explorer was really offering the whole plate to him. “I’m still full from earlier, go ahead. You look hungry.”
Sitting up on the semi-soiled cot, the stranger took the tray, using his legs as a table, and dug in. Eating the bland sustenance with such gusto, Nathan was now sure the poor guy must have been starving his ass off.
The man finished off the food before setting the empty tray on the floor. A belch echoed off the walls followed by a sigh of relief. “Thank you,” he said giving Nathan a nod.
“Oh you do talk,” the brunette asked offering a half smile, “names Nathan, what’s yours?”
The drifter was not as quick to answer, looking rather bashful before finally forcing out “I’m Cole. Thanks again, you didn’t have to…”
“Well good to know ya Cole,” the explorer shrugged, “and don’t worry about it, seeing as we will be spending a good bit of time around each other in my humble little abode here, I figured a good first impression would be smart.”
Cole couldn’t help the amused snort that arose in his throat, but other than that he was silent again. He drifted off into thought, staring off into space.
Nathan didn’t speak any more either. It was strange, as badly as he wanted to talk to the man now that they knew each other’s names, just having another human being in the same room felt a tiny bit better than before. Sure being trusting to a complete stranger was illogical, but Drake knew how to read people, thanks to all those lessons from Sully, along with a few personal experiences. From what he could tell, Cole did not appear to be the hardened criminal type, and that was something Nate was totally fine with. He stretched out on his cot and settled down for the evening.
With a yawn, the explorer rested his head on his arms and tried to lull off to sleep through the sounds of both the prison and the city outside.
Cole stayed locked within his own head for a while longer, eyes tracing over the cell again, over the now snoozing brunette, and finally back over to the window carved into the opposite side of the bars. The moon was out now; full and gleaming in the dark reaches of the sky. He pondered where he was, what he’d done, what he could have done, and a sharp pain pierced his chest. The conduit’s throat tightened and he felt the rims of his eyes begin to burn with tears. Pulling his legs up to his chest, Cole shimmed himself back against the stone wall, resting his head on folded arms. Silent tears flowed over his wind raw face as he tried desperately to fade off into the nothingness of REM sleep.
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In the wee hours of the morning, just as the sun was peeking over the horizon, Nathan was awoken by Cole muttering in his sleep.
“n-no…please…” the blond whined, “G-get away…”
The explorer sat up, stretching out his arms before he stood and paced over to the other’s side, “Cole.” He said firmly.
“D-don’t make me…” the conduit growled swatting at the other with a surprising amount of force.
“Cole!” Nathan called a little louder, gently placing his hands on Cole’s shoulders, “Wake up man! Wake up!”
“Ah! A-wha..?” Cole suddenly lurched up, eyes wide as dinner plates and darting every which way, his chest was heaving with rapid panting. Probably would have leapt into a full on Kung-Fu pose of Nathan did not have hold of his shoulders.
“It’s okay Cole,” Nathan tried to sooth, patting the other man’s shoulders as if to show him he was awake now, “It was just a dream.”
After a few heavy breathes, Cole finally calmed himself and readjusted to the waking world. “S-sorry if I woke you,” he said lowering his head.
“Don’t be,” Nate offered dropping his arms with a sigh, “I still get nightmares from time to time too.”
Cole gulped down the temporary lump that had formed in his throat, sitting up on the rusty cot, “What time is it?” he asked rubbing his forehead.
“I don’t know, maybe 4 in the morning,” Drake said through a light yawn.
“Shit…” Cole grumbled under his breath. There was no way he was falling back asleep now, not after the cruel tricks his mind played on him. He had to be out in the free world, so he could run. Just run. Even if it was from nothing but his own illusions, his mind couldn’t take being trapped in this little box with nothing but himself and all his shortcomings. “I- I can’t stay here…”
“Well good luck cause escaping - or trying to anyway, will only get you in more trouble,” Nathan explained, thinking it a joke, sitting back on his own bed.
“No,” Cole growled under his breath. “I’m getting out of here. Tonight. Join me if you want, just don’t get in the way.” His eyes fixed the explored in an all-too-serious glare, and he spoke with such propose.
Now, as if he already didn’t already, this character only intrigued Nathan more, “How?” Was all the explored could ask out of habit.
“Leave that to me,” Cole said, already feeling the plan start to materialize within the binds of his brain. “I had a backpack with me, and I need it. Once we’re out, we go our separate ways. You can go back to what ever crimes you were up to.”
“Hey! I don’t commit crimes,” Nate said cocking his brow and crossing his arms.
“Is what you do for a living illegal in any way, shape or form?” Cole drawled leaning back against the wall arms folded over his belly.
“Well..uhhm yea, sort of…”
“Then by definition, you’re a criminal,” Cole said rather matter-of-factly, “I don’t really care either way, we all got our ways of survival. I’m just being a smart ass.” The corners of his mouth perked up and he gave a few snickers of amusement.
“Noted…” Nathan said mimicking the chuckle and scratching the back of his neck. Finally someone with a since of humor! He almost wanted to ask if the other would want to just follow him back to London with Sully. Of course when, ol’ Sullivan hears that he’d broken out of prison, again, he might not be too excited about Nate bringing along company. Especially if it was an odd ball drifter who Nathan had met in a Turkish prison. None of that made a lick of sense given how secretive their ‘profession’ was.
The sun was a bit higher by now, fully up and over the land line in the distance. The guards would be bringing the morning chow around soon, so the pair dropped the subject of escape and began to talk about more general interests if anything, to pass time.
Cole was apprehensive about opening up to Nathan about his past, so he let the brunette do most of the talking. The pair was still able to talk about various other things. For one, once they got into the subject of history, Nathan couldn’t shut up even if he wanted to. He went on one tangent after another, ranting about different world leaders, mystical structures erected of gold, and legends of secret cover ups by the Knight’s Templar. In all, Cole didn’t really mind if he couldn’t get a word in edgewise, he was more of a listener anyway. The blonde man had to admit that the other had a way with telling entertaining stories.
Food was dropped off at the designated time, but the pair was so into their conversation that they barley paid the bland slop any mind. Of course, the smell got to Cole eventually and he ate while still listening to Nathan go on and on about Marco Polo and some lost fleet of ships.
Morning faded into midday, and then into the darkening patches of evening. Cole had grown antsy, ready to make good on his plan. He didn’t know for sure how it was going to go, but he could make it up as he went along. Talking with Nathan all day had been a good distraction, but now that night had fallen, all of Cole’s nerves were so jumpy, he was sure he’d jump right out of his skin at the drop of a pin.
The last meal for the day was passed out, and after the other inhabitants had their meal, silence filled the cell block until a buzzer sounded, followed immediately by the lights going out. The other prisoners, one by one, succumbed to sleep as darkness blanketed the prison. With a full moon out this night, an almost silver glow spilled in through the barred windows along the opposite wall.
A lone sentry was on watch tonight, and like clockwork, he made a pass through the block only once every 20 minutes.
“Okay,” Cole whispered, trying to keep his voice as low as possible, “once we get out of here...”
“How are we going to do that by the way?” Nate interrupted with a cocked eye brow.
“You’ll see,” Cole said sounding slightly annoyed “do you happen to know where they store personals they take off people. I was getting pummeled by the oh-so-pleasant welcoming committee, so I didn’t catch where they stashed my things.”
“The office they had us in for booking,” Nate explained, “I saw them take my stuff into a backroom. Must be there.”
“Then you show me where it is, and I’ll make sure to get us both out of this dump in one piece?” Cole offered his hand to the other, looking for his agreement.
“Deal,” Drake said instantly taking hold of Cole’s hand and giving it a few shakes. Anything to get out of this hell hole.
With that, Cole was ready to get this underway. “Close your eyes,” he said.
“Huh?” Nate inquired cocking a brow.
“Look, I can’t explain myself right now,” Cole groaned, “Long story, you don’t wanna hear. Now close your eyes.”
“Fine,” Nate said covering the upper half of his face with his hands, “but trust me Cole, not a lot can shock me these days…”
The conduit chose not to respond to the remark as he advanced to the cell door. Rubbing his fingers together, he gently placed them over the lock. He took a glance over his shoulder just to make sure the other was not peeking. Returning his attention forward, Cole focused his mind on the lock, coaxing out some of his reserved power. The buzzing static in his ears was a welcomed sound as a small bolt shot from his finger tips and into the lock. A few seconds later, the bolted door clanked open and gave way when Cole pushed slightly. “Come on,” he whispered pushing the metal cell exit open just enough to squeeze through.
Nate lowered his hands and followed, closing the door behind him “How’d you-?”
“Sh!” Cole hissed holding his index finger to his own mouth. He motioned with his eyes for Nate to take the lead.
With a small nod, Nate strode past the other and into the cell block’s narrow hallway. He glanced both ways and strained his ears for the faintest hint of the on-duty guard. When he was sure the coast was clear, he looked at Cole before motioning with his eyes and head to follow.
The brunette led them to the door that lead out of the cell block, but found it locked tight. “Can you open this one too?” the explorer whispered. Cole took a look at it. Defiantly a bigger and more secure lock then the one on the cell door. Would need quite a bit more power to unlock, not to mention it would be noisy.
“Can, but only if you want the whole prison know somethin’s up,” the drifter respond with a grimace.
“Ah crap…” Nathan groaned, “Okay, wait here, I’m going to go get the key off the guard.”
“What?” Cole hissed, but before he could react further, Nathan turned and jogged off as fast as he could without making too must noise. The conduit growled to himself, but didn’t move from his spot.
Nathan quickly caught up to the pacing guard, and with carefully placed footsteps, crept up behind the man. With a quite sigh to chill his nerves, the brunette quickly grabed the guy before slamming him against the wall with all his strength. Once force against the solid surface, Nate gripped the guard’s short, black hair before rearing the man’s head back and smashing it into the concreate. Out cold, but alive, Nathen gently lowered the man to the floor to minimize the noise before unclipping the ring of keys from his belt.
Racing back to Cole, the explorer started testing them to find the match for the cell block door. The conduit was tapping his foot like an unnerved rabbit, “You didn’t just kill that guy did you?” he whispered.
“No,” Nathan said “just…knocked him out real good. Got it!” he unlocked the exit and pushed the door open just enough to peek through.
By some fucking miracle there were no guards in the main hallway. For now. With a wave of his hand, Nate ushered Cole along through the door and down the passage stone. “Thank god this place is shitty enough to not have a crap ton of cameras…” Nate muttered to himself as they came up on a desk that was behind a set of barred windows. Just beyond that was the booking office. “Through there,” the brunette said looking through the glass and pointing at the other entrance on the opposite end of the room.
A sudden shout from behind startled both and upon spinning around, they discovered that they’d been caught by a small gaggle of more patrolmen. One as yelling at them in Turkish while the other two were aiming their pistols at them.
“Crap…” Nathan growled holding his hands up in surrender. Why the hell did he trust that this was a good idea? This is what he got when he trusted strangers! He mentally kicked himself for letting his naiveté get the better of him, again.
But Cole did nothing to show that he was about to give in. In fact he appeared soft of emboldened. With a smirk he looked at Nathan, “Don’t worry, I still got a bargain to hold up.” He took a single step forward so he was blocking the other from any possible assault, before holding his hands up. Summoning the last of his reserve power, a crackling sound filled the space around them all. Nathan felt all the hairs on his body stand on end and a low hum filled his ears before a sudden burst of light caused his arms to fold over his face in order to shield it.
Cole formed the energy into a tight circle before pushing his hands forward, sending a hollow red wave of power rushing at the group of guards. The blast was so strong that it bashed the trio of watchmen into the solid bars behind them and even shattered the glass windows around the desk. When Nathan finally lowered his arms, Cole’s powers had faded and the blond dropped to his knee for a moment.
“Damn it…” the conduit groaned panting slightly, “running on empty here. Let’s move.”
With a slightly stunned nod Nathan reached through the bars and unlocked the door into the area behind the desk. Pushing it open, he paused to let Cole get back to his feet before they proceeded into the booking office.
Cole knew his backpack was close, he could since the blast shard he’d stashed in there before leaving Empire City. “I think I can find it, just keep a look out,” he said.
“Sure thing, just hurry, I’m pretty sure they know we’re out of our cages,” the brunette replied. He closed the door and his eyes trailed around the room for some kind of object to arm himself with. Just in case. Spotting a stun gun on the desk, he grabbed it and kept an eye out at the door way for more prison guards.
The office was deserted of all the day workers by then, making the area dark, but Cole was able to find the small room where the officers stashed personal effects. His ‘third’ eye could almost see the sharp glowing in his bag on one of the many shelves stacked high with other items.
Meanwhile, Nathan kept the stun gun ready as he saw two more guards round the corner and start to charge at him. Gulping, he did his best to aim the electro-gun right at the mild spacing between them. “Wait for it, wait for it…” the explorer murmured to himself before deciding they were close enough and pulling the trigger. The tiny capsule like needles sprang from the gun, nailing both guard on different points on their faces. Once in the chin and the other in the forehead. Thousands of volts railed threw the men till they dropped to the floor unconscious.
Cole finally reappeared from the booking office, his backpack slung around his middle, “Whoa…lucky shot,” he chuckled taking note of the downed men.
Drake dropped the stun gun with a sigh of relief, “Thanks…luck tends to follow me and only pop up at just the right moments. All the good karma’s gotta come from somewhere.”
The reference to karma seemed to ring a little bell in the back of Cole’s head, and it brought up a few bad memories that still stung like a fresh cut. But he struck those from his mind and focused on the now. “Here, I got this for you,” the blond said handing over Nathan’s leather gun holster. Of course they had taken the guns and put them elsewhere, but Drake was just glad to have his custom holster back.
“Oh wow, thanks!” the brunette thanked slipping it over his shoulders and shifting so it was a comfortable and snug fit. “Hard to find the ones that fit without buckling…” he quipped on a side note. “The exits have to be locked down by now, let’s check the roof.”
Cole nodded and followed when the other started off in back the way they came.
About half way back down the hall, Nathan stopped at an ash-grey door marked ‘Stairs’ in both English and Turkish. Since he still had the keys from before, he unlocked the door with no trouble and the pair began to traverse up the flights of steps.
As they continued to climb, they were shortly followed by another group of watchmen. With Cole so low on power and Nathan completely unarmed, they could not stop and fight, favoring to only push themselves to run faster up the stairs. The anxiety of the chase seemed to make the flights stretch for miles, but they eventually made it to the roof.
Bursting through the door, Cole slammed it shut behind them and used the last drop of his power to flash fuse the metal together with a tiny arch blast. He suddenly felt light headed, like he was going to faint, and he finally had to slump to his knees again to rest. He could since power in the lights overhead, but it was so little, it would not even be worth the effort. He needed more if they were going to make it out of this without getting recaptured. Looks like he was to have to use his blast shard. He had been saving it for an emergency, and this seemed like a perfect scenario to fit the bill.
“You okay?” Nathan asked, worry dripping from his tone, “Get up Cole! We’re almost there!” He quickly grabbed the other and hauled him up onto his feet again.
With a groan, the conduit fought to stay up, but his was just so weak that he only turned into dead weight and fell again, bringing Nathan with him.
“M-My bag…the rock in my bag,” Cole managed to say.
“okay, get the rock,” Nathan coached to himself shifting behind the conduit and unzipping his bag. Sure enough, under a few clothes, was a bright, glowing blue rock. “Got it! Here,” the explorer said shoving the stone into the other’s hands.
Cole felt the energy from the blast sharp seem into his cells before he even started to pull it out. Focusing on the stone in his hands, Cole let the power flow into his body, crackling and sparking the excess off onto the roof. It was like a breath of fresh air, giving Cole the energy to stand back up. “Okay, I’m good. Thanks!” he said offering a genuine smile to the other.
Nathan returned it and looked out over the lay of the land, “Not there’s the subject of getting down from here.” He spotted some power lines that he could have easily zipped down if he had a pistol.
Cole must have noticed the same lines because he looked at Nathan with a straight face and said, “Get on my back. Piggy back style.”
“H-huh?” Nate asked taken slightly aback.
“Like I said, I’ll explain later,” Cole said pacing to the side of the building so his feet were right over where the line of wire connected to the adaptor on the roof.
A loud, continuous banging on the roof’s door reminded Nathan to just listen and go with it so he nodded and some what awkwardly step up behind Cole, looping his arms around his shoulders.
When the other was not moving as quickly as he liked, Cole only rolled his eyes before reaching down and hooking Nathan’s legs over his arms and rearing him up onto the blonde’s back. Before Drake could even protest, the conduit took a step forward and began to literally grind down the power line like he was on a skateboard. The red sparks that shot off from under his shoes and looped around his arms did nothing to effect Nathan as they bounced and curled about around him. The brunette was mesmerized by the sheer power that dwelled within this individual and the things he was capable of. So much so that he did not register that Cole was about to leap off the wire, and when he did, Nate about fell off his back. But the conduit was keeping a tight hold on him and did not allow him to become dislodged. The jump had pole vaulted them up over the outer wall and barbwire fence, Cole having gained enough air to clear both. The conduit braced his legs to take on the force of their touchdown, wanting to take the pounding if he screwed up and sent them flying.
Landing on the opposite side of the prison’s heavily barbed fence, Cole kept his feet planted into the graveled earth as he slid them to a stop, trying to keep them both up right.
Unfortunately, thanks to a stray stick, MacGrath tripped and sent them tumbling over the semi-steep embankment anyway.
Both men grunted upon landing at the bottom, Cole landing first, with Nathan toppling on top of him. Despite the rough landing Nathan was so hyped on the adrenaline that he leapt up whooping and hollering like an idiot from his excitement, leaving the other stunned this time.
“Holy crap that was so freaking awesome!!!” the explorer yelled practically bouncing in place like a miniature dog. “How did you do all that? Does it hurt then you do it? How did you get like this?” the questions were flying out faster then Nate could really stop them.
Cole groaned in discomfort before pushing himself back up onto his feet, “Settle down man, we’re still not out of the woods yet.” He started to brush off the dirt and loose grass that had stuck to him during their little tumble when they both heard the sirens start to sound around the prison coupled with angry shouting and barking dogs. “Aaaand that’s our cue to get the fuck out of here,” he added before he turned and ran. He didn’t care which way he was going, he just wanted to get the hell away from that prison as fast as possible.
Nathan cleared his throat and bolted to catch up, “Yea…uh sorry.”
“No worries,” Cole assured as they ran.
Since the prison was located in the outskirts of Istanbul, Nathan advised they get back into town, reasoning that it would be easier to hide amongst the clutter of people versus trying to make a go of it in the unknown of the wilderness beyond the city’s limits.
Once back in the heart of the city, Nathan took the lead again seeking out a nice, low key place to collect their bearings before acting further. The roof of a local apartment complex sufficed for the time being.
“Okay,” Nathan began through an exhausted sigh as he sat on a wooden shipping box, “now that we don’t have the Turkish Johnny Law breathing down our necks. Shall we discuss what’s to happen next?”
Cole flopped down next to the same crate, leaning against it just to the other’s right, “Sure,” he sounded just as worn out, “we’re out of there. I held up my end of the deal. I guess now we part ways.”
“Well don’t you want help at least getting out of the country,” Nathan offered, “I can make a few phone calls and have a friend here with a plane by mid-morning, and we are both now heavy wanted felons here.”
“I think I’ll manage on my own,” Cole said rather sternly, “most if not all of this part of world is connected by metal railroads and it they’re electric, then it’s like riding a generator.”
“Look man you helped me more then I helped you,” Nathan said, “sure I showed where to find your backpack, but you busted me out of a literal hell on earth.”
“Surely your friend with the plane could have gotten you out,” Cole countered cocking his brow.
“Yea, but I would have still been sitting in that cell for months, and now I don’t have to,” Nathan shot back, “Come on, what you have to lose?”
At that, Cole was stumped. He’d already lost well everything. What more could he loose other than the clothing on his back? “This is so fucking crazy…” was all he could say at the end of a few moments.
“No, what’s crazy is that fact you can unlock prison cells, shoot lighting from your hands like freakin’ Zeus, oh, and you can grind on power cables like Tony Hawke,” Nathan said, “And I’ve seen lots of crazy shit my friend.”
“Shit…” Cole said before running his hands over his face, “Fine, get me out of this shithole, I don’t even know why I’m in, and we’re even.”
Nathan chuckled and stood, “Good, now let’s find a payphone so I can get us out of here.”