Lara Croft's Middle Eastern Trouble.
This is the second Lara Croft story, written in December 2012 — January 2013 and posted first on a different website (where it's not present anymore). The story is even longer than the first one (which is also available here on FanFiction in my profile), clocking over 10K words; for convenience of reading, it's split into 4 chapters — the story was written as a whole without explicit "chapters" in mind, but the division into parts is more-or-less plot-based, so you can read it part by part instead of trying to read it all in one sit (which is probably close to 1 hour).
DISCLAIMER: Lara Croft character and the Tomb Raider franchise as a whole are a property of their respective copyright owners. This story is not a part of the canon and is entirely a fanfiction written on the "fair use" basis, as a derivative work, without any intent of copyright violation. The author strongly does not approve practicing the depicted tortures (or any kind of tortures) as a method of obtaining information in real life; or any type of violence against the will of the subject. If you find such scenes uncomfortable, or if you're not allowed to be exposed to such material by your local laws, you should not proceed.
SHORT SUMMARY: This story puts Lara into a different situation than we're used to see her in — she has to deal with human enemies who are very determined to find out the secrets she keeps, and won't stop to get this information from her. Expect the heroine to be a subject to beatings, low blows, BDSM-ish torture and such — and a bit of action with guns towards the end. Lara here isn't a superhuman of any sorts (or a videogame character, for that matter) who would be able to handle any kind of damage relatively easily; she's definitely fit and trained, she knows how to use guns, etc., but that's pretty much all — she's a living human being.
As for Lara's appearance, her looks during the Legend / Anniversary / Underworld games are a very good reference, probably with slightly smaller breasts though. She's around 23-24, not too much tanned skin, nice-looking slim athletic body. Clothing will be described in detail in the story itself.
Any opinions / reviews of the story would be much appreciated.
"Beep! Beep! Beep!"
Regaining consciousness, Lara made a displeased sound and pulled her arm from under the blanket to reach the alarm clock and stop it. She blinked a couple times, focusing her vision on the clock's display. 6 AM... Rolling onto her back, she lay still for half a minute more, then slowly sat up in the bed and stretched, letting the blanket slide down her body and expose her slim frame just barely covered by underwear. The bed was very nice — she just wished she had more time to sleep... But what was planned for the afternoon was very well worth a couple hours of sleep. Completely putting the blanket away, the girl placed her bare feet onto the warm floor and slowly walked towards the large window occupying the whole wall of the room. She touched the control in the corner — the heavy blinds rotated and rolled away, filling the room with bright rays of sunrise and opening a fantastic view of the Middle Eastern landscape. Dubai — a beautiful city and very soon it would be the place of one of the most amazing discoveries in history.
38 floors below, a blonde woman in her early thirties, dressed in a strict business suit and accompanied by 5 men in police uniform, walked to the reception counter. "Miss, I'm agent Rinsey, Interpol," — she flashed her badge. — "We need to know the room where a one named Lara Croft is staying."
Taking all that she needed from her bag, Lara proceeded into the bathroom. Quickly getting out of her underwear, the girl stepped into the shower cabin and switched on the warm water. She devoted quite some time to shaving her armpits, legs and crotch smoothly, taking this time to think of the plans for the day. A big day indeed — a chain of discoveries that Lara and Professor Murchwald from the famous British university had made has lead them both to an ancient settlement here in UAE, which had concrete evidence that people here had visitors from American continent way back in 2000 BC or even earlier — thus changing the humanity's view on a lot of historical events dramatically. One of the most famous annual archaeological conferences, WAC, was held that day in Dubai — and they were going to present their discovery to the whole world. Such a moment very well deserved staying for a night here in Armani hotel in the famous Burj Khalifa tower. Lara smiled, putting away the razor blade and switching the shower to cold. She shivered, feeling the icy water run down her body, and exhaled quietly. She needed to be completely awake for the conference...
Several minutes later her bare feet touched the warm floor of the room again as Lara walked out of the shower, stark naked and trying to wrap the towel around her body with no success. With a quiet sigh, she threw the towel onto the bed and reached for her cell phone lying on the table near it...
Bang! The door into the apartment slammed open as 5 policemen stormed in, with their pistols ready and pointing at Lara. "Freeze!" Her actions weren't even conscious for her — it was all instincts and perception of everything as if it was played in slow motion. Lara rushed across the room to the right, making a run for the bathroom wall as at least some sort of cover — and the policemen opened fire. One bullet hit her left shoulder, stopping her momentum and turning her by 90 degrees with the knockback, facing the attackers. Her body was now an easy target for the storm of bullets following the first one... Some whizzed past her, smashing the wall-sized window behind her. Several of them hit her breasts, stopping deep inside her flesh after being slowed down by the ribs and just barely missing her heart. Quite a few landed into her upper abs, riddling her stomach, liver, kidneys and piercing her body through. Three or four more hit lower, below her navel, filling her guts and the most intimate organs with lead. Lara was resembling an army shooting target now with all the bullet holes in her — opening her mouth in shock and doubling over in unbearable pain, she stepped backwards for balance, being almost knocked over by the huge knockback. And one more step, and more... Holding her wounds with both hands and blinded by the pain, Lara made one more step back — into the air. The glass window, smashed by the bullets, wasn't there anymore to save her, and the girl, tripping over the edge and letting out a desperate scream of horror as loud as her bullet-penetrated lungs could produce, went for a 140-meter fall.
"Fucking idiots, I said I needed her alive!" — the woman, who had been standing behind the policemen, rushed forward in an attempt to catch Lara, but she was a second too late. Now she could only stand here and watch... Short 5 seconds of free fall were more than enough for the girl to completely realize what was about to happen. Even the insane pain in all her body left her mind to make room for the maddening horror — an absolutely crazy cry lasted for a second before her naked body smashed into the pavement at the ground level, making pounds of blood spurt out of every orifice...
With a loud inhale, Lara opened her eyes and almost jumped up in the bed, startled by the terrifying nightmare. Her heart was racing like crazy, and it took quite a series of quick sharp breaths for her to realize that she was back in her hotel bed. The dream seemed so scarily realistic... The girl sat up in her bed, covering her face with both hands and breathing deeply. The alarm clock suddenly going off made her literally jump... She looked at it angrily, reaching to it to switch it off, and quickly got out of the bed, coming to the window and opening the blinds. A glance down made her heart jump to her throat — this height seemed so menacing now because of the nightmare. Shaking her head to make the thoughts go away, the girl stood silently for a few more seconds before letting out a quiet sigh, going back to the bed and reaching for the bag under it. She had always used to sleep well in unfamiliar places — this was something new. Signing it off to the excitement for the upcoming day, Lara took her stuff from the bag.
Restroom. Washing up. Shaving. Cold shower. The bathroom door opened, letting the girl back into the room. Finishing wiping her body with the towel, she came to the table near the bed to grab her cell phone — and hesitated for a moment, suddenly remembering what had happened after this in the dream. A quick cautious movement of hand, and she glanced briefly at the apartment door, making sure nobody was breaking it down. She smiled at herself, quickly checking if there were any new messages and putting the phone back. Lara stretched her body and reached for the bag again, taking some underwear from it. She would be wearing a tight dress at the ceremony, she needed something equally tight and invisible... This. She quickly pulled the white low-rise panties up her legs and dealt with the modest bra of the same color, coming to the large mirror in the room's wardrobe and giving herself a satisfied look...
Boom! Boom! The sound of loud thuds on the apartment door, which she was standing not more than a couple meters away from, almost made her jump. She stood quiet, still feeling the slight bit of irrational fear that came from the nightmare. The thuds happened again, this time accompanied by a rather rude male voice: "Miss Croft! Room service!". Lara looked at the door cautiously. Whoever it was, her gut was telling her it was anything but the room service... Trying to make absolutely no noise at all, she walked to the door on her toes and looked into the peephole. Four policemen and some woman in a suit... She almost gasped from horror, suddenly feeling a very strong connection to her dream. "She has to be there," — the woman's voice was barely heard from behind the door, but Lara still could make out words. — "Her key card info shows that she entered the room last evening and hasn't left since then. I have the order on her immediate arrest. Break this door!"
As the first loud kick shattered the door, Lara jumped back in panic, breathing deeply and looking around. The only other way out of the apartment was to fall out of the window... Or... The girl looked at the high wardrobe and rushed towards it, as the next kick on the door made it crack and almost give up. One more smash — and the door slammed open, immediately letting the five people rush into the room. "Clear!" "Clear!" "I'm checking the bathroom... Clear!" As soon as all five people were inside the room and not blocking the exit, Lara jumped down from the wardrobe, on top of which she had been hiding, and fled out of the door into the corridor. "There she is!" — all the people in the room immediately rushed after her, jamming for a second in the doorway, while Lara was running like hell away along the hotel's wide and empty corridor. "Can we open fire, ma'am?" — "Yes, definitely yes, just don't kill her!" Lara noticed an opening to her left, leading to the staircase, and turned into it just as the first bullets were fired at her, with one of them piercing her right biceps and making her scream from pain, grabbing the arm with her left hand and almost falling down the stairs from the lost balance. "Fernandez, do you hear me?" — As the three other policemen rushed after the girl, one reached for his radio. — "The suspect is going down staircase B, I repeat, staircase B, catch her on your floor!"
Not even paying attention to her injured arm, Lara was fleeing down the stairs, trying to think on her feet of a possible escape plan. She probably shouldn't go right away to the hotel lobby, it must be swarming with cops; she should just... Her thinking was interrupted when the door on floor 20 suddenly opened up in front of her, and before she could even react properly, a policeman in riot gear grabbed her by throat, slammed her into the wall of stairwell and kneed her hard in the crotch that was barely covered by panties, making her let out a pitiful cry and double over in pain. She desperately twitched in his arms, trying to break free, but in just a couple more seconds all her pursuers surrounded her, pointing guns and making her give up resisting. "Oh, it was hard to catch you," — catching her breath, the woman laughed, looking her right in the eyes and coming closer. "Lara Croft, you're under arrest for the murder of Thomas Murchwald and planning of a terrorist attack." Getting the taser from her pocket, the woman pressed it against the bare skin of Lara's lower belly and switched it on, holding it there with a triumphant smile while the girl was twitching uncontrollably until she lost consciousness...