[It's strange, but the news that Nate had walked out on Elena takes him by surprise. It's not like they haven't walked out on people before: girls in bars who were hoping for a little more than just a one night stand, clients who were proving too difficult or untrustworthy to work with, rich assholes who didn't deserve Avery's treasure. It runs in the family, so to speak, and yet for some reason he would have never thought that Nathan would do it to his wife. Maybe because of the way he's seen them interact with one another while they've all been here, or the way he had acted when Rafe told him the truth about Alcazar. They seemed to really get along, and he knows his brother enough to understand that if he did marry someone, decide to stick around with them, then they must be worth it.

It doesn't matter now, some morbid part of him thinks. What does matter is the state his brother is in. As soon as Nathan finishes, Sam closes what little distance there is between them, hand sliding from the back of his neck across to his far shoulder in a grip that's even tighter than before.]

Hey, hey, you listen to me. Don't you start thinking like that. You didn't cause any of this to happen, and you sure as hell didn't have it coming or deserve it. If anyone's to blame it's those bastards who brought us here in the first place. Sure, you guys may have had problems, but who doesn't? Listen--[He leans forward a little so he can get a better view of Nathan's face and make sure he understands.]--this is not on you, Nathan.