Hey guys! This is my first attempt at writing a Tomb Raider fanfic after I finished reading "The Camera Loves You" by Asynca, I was kinda inspired to write this story. I recommend you read it, it's a really good story. Anyways, I bring you this laughable attempt at following the guy's example. :)
The blood loss was already starting to take a huge toll on him, and just clutching at the wound didn't do anything to help stop the steady flow of red, viscous liquid that was starting to completely soak his somewhat torn shirt. He honestly did not expect for the Solarii to make one last push at them, even with their crazed leader dead. His lips curled into a smile, Mathias certainly deserved to die the way he did, and after what he'd done here to everyone in this godforsaken hellhole these past couple of days, there wasn't any doubt in his mind that that asshole had it coming a long time ago.
And the other thing that he really didn't expect though was one of those crazed cultists chucking a fragmentation grenade at him, blasting his sorry ass away and peppering his already battered body with deadly fragments. He could see a couple of wounds in his legs and right foot, which wasn't really that bad; but what he was most concerned about was the fact that his stomach had a hole in it, and that he was on his way to experience what was most likely a slow and excruciatingly painful death.
The adrenaline had already kicked in, of course, dulling most of his pain away in an endorphin high. He knew those always didn't last long, and in a matter of minutes, the numbness that was preventing him from shouting like a crazed person would be finally gone. And the kicker was, he didn't regret any of it: the wounds, the mere fact that he was dying, and would probably be finished off by those crazy fuckers in a matter of seconds. He finally realized that he was actually acquiescent to his imminent death with a calm acceptance. Which was crazy, because he hadn't really given it much thought when he shielded her with his body by the last second, making sure he took the brunt of the explosion.
She only had a few minor scratches, nothing major, but other than that she was okay. Thank God. Which was actually good thing, because if she was even more severely injured than she already was, his guilt would probably eat him alive and quickly hasten his passing. It broke his heart to see her crying at him as she was beside him, begging for him to please come with him and telling him that he was going to be alright if they made it out of here together. It took all of his fading willpower not to laugh at her encouraging lie. He knew he was already a goner when he decided to protect her. He absolutely knew it, and he suspected that she knew it as well, but was fervently in denial about the whole thing.
He had told her to leave without him, which at first she intensely refused, but he looked at the beautiful woman in front of him, those spectacular brown eyes with a little speck of hazel, just looking at those jewels with his own blue orbs. He never really saw it coming, though. The fact that as he was just looking at her eyes right here and now, his mind carefully reminding him one last time that, without a doubt, he had truly and utterly fallen in love with her.
Her tears were already starting to drop on his bloodied face, and just seeing her in this sorry state made it all the more terrible on him on what he was about to ask her to do next. He had slowly raised his hand, his rough palm just gently caressing her beautiful face. It was streaked with a few cuts and bruises, but he didn't care, he thought she was perfect just the way she was. Her kind personality, her sheer willpower to have overcome all this horrible things, and her vulnerability, all of them making her more beautiful than she already is.
She slowly enclosed his hand on her face with her own, softly squeezing it to reassure him of something that would probably never come. He couldn't have picked a worse time to have madly fallen for her, he knew, but he couldn't help it. The feelings were there, they always were, and each passing day since they had been marooned on this island, it had only gotten stronger. She was crying more deeply now, her sobs piercing through what was left of his hearing. He whispered sweet nothings to her, telling her delicately in a tender voice to please stop weeping, and that in just a little while, everything would be over soon.
He wanted to tell her that he loved her, and he would probably always will, but it was completely unfair on her part to suffer such a heartbreaking loss like this, and she already lost people that she cared about deeply: her parents, Grim, Roth. Just adding another load to her burden wasn't the right thing to do. But if he didn't tell her how he felt, he'd probably regret it forever. So he gingerly placed his hand inside the satchel he was carrying and grabbed the papers he was looking for.
He didn't even know why he started making a journal when they got stuck here, but it seemed like the right thing to do at that time. In it, he described in every agonizing detail all the things that had happened to him, what dangers he had experienced, and most importantly, the part where he finally realized that he had truly fell in love with her. He knew he was being a selfish prick for wanting her to know, and at that moment, he just didn't care anymore. He was already dying anyway, what was he going to lose?
He extracted the documents out of the bag and gave it to her, telling her to read it, and to leave him before the rest of the Solarii arrived. Again, she told him she wasn't leaving him behind. And at that moment, without even any logical thought whatsoever, he slung his hand around the back of her head and pulled her for a soft, chaste kiss on her lips. It was just a simple smack, nothing more, but it conveyed everything he ever felt about her in that instant, so for one final time, he finally told her to please leave him and never look back. And she did, albeit a little hesitantly.
Now, as he leaned against the rubble, he could hear the rest of those fuckers converging on his position, shouting orders to encircle him and fill him with lead once they had him in their sights. Again, he really didn't care. As if it was sweet music to his ears, the PT boat that they had repaired earlier was finally rumbling to life, its straining engines finally starting to fade away as it trekked its way out of here. For one last time, he smiled. She was safe.
Readying his old service pistol from the Corps, he couldn't help but wonder if he was ever going to meet with the rest of his team. Allen, Ramirez, Peterson. In a few short moments, he was going to meet them, hoping to God that they would welcome him with open arms after what he'd done to them.
With nothing left to lose, he stood up, faced the enemy, and fired his weapon.