The Dinner Party

AN So here's chapter 4 the dinner party enjoy!

Disclaimer I don't own anyone in this chapter except for the evil Becky she returns Dun, Dun, Dun!

Why am I even doing this again, oh that's right, to save your boyfriends life! Lara sighed as she looked into her wardrobe mirror to make sure she looked alright. Not bad Croft, not bad. She was wearing a midnight blue strapless dress that hung down by her ankles. There was a large slit up her right leg that stopped just below her thigh. She was wearing blue high heels, a pearl necklace and to top it off her hair was curled and hanging on her right shoulder. She was absolutely stunning.

"Wow" she turned around to see Kurtis with his jaw dropped, staring at her. He was wearing a black suit with a white shirt and his top button was undone. His hair was in it's usual scruffy state and he looked terribly uncomfortable. Although he looked fantastic at the same time.

"Wow yourself"

"No, honestly Lara you look beautiful." said Kurtis while walking towards Lara. She could feel her face heat up and she placed a small, sweet kiss on Kurtis' cheek. "Thank-you" She took his hand, walked over to one of the two armchairs in her room and grabbed a purple pachmina and her handbag before walking out of the room and then leading the way into her garage. She walked over to the armoury and typed in a code before pulling out a holster and a pistol that would fit on her thigh under her dress. "You can never be to careful" she joked before throwing Kurtis' Boran X to him. He caught it with ease and slipped it under his jacket along with his chirugai.

"So, which one do you want to take?" Lara asked

"Seriously, you're letting me drive?" Lara nodded "Well then, how about the Aston Martin it's a classic favourite of mine, never actually drove one though." He wandered over to the drivers seat, opened the door and slammed it shut. He motioned for Lara to get into the passengers seat. As she did so he asked

"So what's it with this Rutland dude that makes you so angry?"

"Well" started Lara as Kurtis turned the engine on and sped away into the night towards London. "He stole something from me a long time ago, I managed to get it back of course but that's not the only reason,first of all there's that and second of all he's a pathetic excuse for a mouse if you ask me and thirdly he calls himself an archaeologist but all he does is hires mercenaries to go and kill people that have something that he wants. This is what happened to me, although he had never met me before so he didn't know what he was up against."

"What did he steal from you?"

"An artefact I found in Cambodia when I was fourteen. It's called The Iris. I was on an expedition with Von Croy at the time and he wasn't cautious enough around it so I won the prize. A few years later Von Croy stole it from me and placed it in a company building. BIG mistake. I met Bryce and he managed to hack into the systems for me so I could locate The Iris. So I got it back and five years later Rutland attempted to brake into my mansion and steal it. When I tracked him down he was begging on his knees, pleading for me not to kill him. I showed him mercy but if he tries to do something like that again, he may not be as lucky."

"Oh, OK, so if he even says 'hi' to you the wrong way is head will be on the top of a spike"

"Yep, I really can't be bothered with his games any more"

"Kay, just tell me one thing. Is there gonna be dancing?"

"Yep"

"OK, now I hate him as well" He joked. Lara listened to his laugh and couldn't help but smile. Whenever he was happy she always seemed to be happy, it was always strange that way.

Half an hour later, Lara and Kurtis were parked and entering Rutland's house. They were walking threw the hall which led to the dining room, when Lara accidentally bumped into a lady carrying a tray of food that was walking in the opposite direction. The woman glared viciously at Lara and instantly Lara recognised the woman. Immediately Lara grabbed hold of Kurtis' hand and pulled herself close to him. Kurtis looked from Lara to the what Lara was looking at. He recognised her as well and she smiled sweetly at him and winked. Kurtis put his arm around Laras waist and pulled her even closer. He stared daggers at the woman before them until she was out of his line of sight. Lara looked up at him. "Was that?" she asked. "Yeah, don't worry she wouldn't dare touch you" Lara hugged him as they entered the dining room and they sat themselves down at the table furthest away from the stage. As if Rutland's not bad enough, now we've got that bitch to worry about Lara thought to herself as Kurtis pulled her chair out for her. "Such the gentleman, Kurtis" "Anything for you" They both joked. As soon as they were seated a waiter came to tell them what they would be eating for the night.

"Good Evening, sir, madam may I get you anything to drink?" the waiter asked in an obvious fake French accent.

Lara was the first to answer. "I'll have soda water and lime please."

"Scotch on the rocks for me, thank-you"

"When I return with your drinks, I shall run threw the menu for tonight"

After one or two minuets, the waiter returned with their drinks and explained to them what they could have to eat.

"For starters we have duck pate with French toast and lemon or for a vegetarian option a garden salad with home made Italian Dressing. For the main meal there shall be Salmon Fillets with mashed potatoes and a side salad with seasoning and for our vegetarian we have-"

He was interrupted by an impatient Kurtis "I'm not meaning to be rude, but neither of us are vegetarians, so can you skip to the desert."

The young waiter looked almost upset at Kurtis' remark but carried on regardless. "For desert we have, honey and vanilla ice-cream with lemon and orange zest toppings and a small slice of chocolate and cranberry gateau. I shall leave these cards here for you to write what you wish to order and where you sit and when the appetisers are over I shall come and collect it, enjoy the meal"

The waiter motioned for a waitress carrying a tray of appetisers to come over to Lara and Kurtis. "Thank you very much, I thought I was going to die of boredom and what about his accent fake or-"

"It IS real actually Croft."

Lara and Kurtis turned there heads and their smiles suddenly dropped when they recognised the woman standing before them. Becky Livingston. The bitch from their childhood.

"Her name's Lara" replied Kurtis taking Lara's hand under the table.

"Really, I prefer Croft, anyway I'm not here to socialize, I'm here to serve your food. Which appetiser would you like?"

"Why? Is it poisoned? And aren't you a bit old to be working as a waitress?"

"As much as I wish it was it isn't but if you want I can finish off what I started all those years ago before your little boyfriend came got involved" Lara tightened her grip on Kurtis' hand. He could feel how angry yet upset she was. He rubbed her knee and kissed her lightly on the cheek.

"Aw, how sweet, he's still pretending to love you, even after all these years, how cute" This comment made Kurtis lose control.

He flung himself out of his chair and yelled quietly at Becky so he wouldn't cause any attention to himself. "Who do you think you are? Coming in here, threatening my girlfriend and then saying that I don't even love her, and I thought you were a bitch before"

"Oh come on Kurtis you know I was having a laugh even though I was speaking the truth about Lara, but you know I would never hurt you" She said in a sweet voice.

"Get the fuck away from me and if you ever hurt or come near Lara again, I swear I will do a lot more than humiliate you"

"Now, now that's no way to talk to a future girlfriend now is it?"

"Future GIRLFRIEND, you are nuts, I love Lara and only Lara, I would have to be completely psychotic to date you." By this time Lara was out of her seat and standing next to Kurtis.

"I'd be happy to fight you, but instead of giving you the pleasure of only having a fractured jaw, how 'bout I brake it." Kurtis began to walk Lara back to her seat and he had had enough of Becky's games. "If you know what's good for you Becky, you'll stay well away from me and Lara."

Becky turned hot on her heels and muttered over her shoulder "This is far from over". And then she disappeared into a group of dancers.

"I wanna hurt her so much for what she did to you when we were kids, humiliating her didn't even work" Lara grabbed Kurtis' hand and kissed him.

"Thanks but I can take care of myself"

"No you don't understand, I physically hate her for kicking the shit outa you, seeing you lying there helpless while getting a beating turned my stomach and I couldn't bare to watch it." He squeezed her hand tighter.

"It's OK, I'll get her back someday, anyway if you weren't there to help me, it could've turned out a lot worse and we might not even be together just now."

Lara rested her head on Kurtis' shoulder as their food card was collected from their table and their drinks refilled. A man, in about his late fifties, came up onto the stage to talk about archaeology.

"It is here that we discovered that the Rose Skull can grant immortality to it's capturer. The great descendants of the Lux Veritatis" Kurtis and Lara both looked up at the mention of the Lux Veritatis. "...cast a spell on the skull to keep it from getting within the hands of evil. It is unknown what this spell consists of, but it is said that only on an eclipse, such as one which will take place next month, is the only time that the Rose Skull can be discovered or destroyed. Thank you for your time"

By the time the speech had finished Lara and Kurtis' starter had arrived. They both had duck pate on toast. After there starter they got up and danced to 'Viva la Vida' by Coldplay. While they were dancing Lara felt the heat coming off of Kurtis' body and she loved every minuet of it. She felt so safe around him and she gave every single bit of her heart to him. Lara had her arms around his neck and he had his arms around her waist holding her close. After the song had finished they sat back down and just talked. They talked about there childhood, Kurtis about his life with the Lux Veritatis, working as a mercenary, although he regretted every bit of working for Marten Gunderson, and when he joined the Foreign Legion and Lara talked about her mother's disappearance, her fathers death and Egypt. She found herself struggling to talk about it but she trusted Kurtis and knew he would understand if she didn't talk about it in full detail.

The main meal and the desert came and gone and so did the rest of the night with no sign of Rutland. Which Lara didn't like one bit, sure she would've liked it a lot better if she hadn't even come here but why invite her to a dinner party to talk to her about something and not even show up, this was too suspicious for Lara's liking.

The rest of the guests left and so did Lara and Kurtis, and Rutland still didn't show his face. On their way out, Lara and Kurtis were unfortunate enough to run into Becky. "Toodles" she said before smacking Kurtis on the bum. He quickly let go of Laras waist before spinning round to hit Becky. "I thought I told you to stay the fuck away from us" he was just about to take a swing at Becky when Lara put a hand on his arm to stop him. "Don't Kurtis, she's not even worth it" Kurtis controlled his anger to once again take Laras hand and walk away. "Yeah you walk away Croft, run away from the competition"

Lara turned on her heels and slapped Becky on her right cheek. "What competition, you looked in the mirror lately."

When they returned to Croft manor, Kurtis felt like there was something not right about the house. "Would you relax, it's nothing, it's probably just the CCTV cameras. Don't worry"

"I don't know Lara, most of the time when I've felt like this something bad happens, and I don't like the fact that Rutland wasn't at dinner either."

"Relax if there is something we can take care of ourselfs" She said as she dumped her bag and pachmina on a chair and began to walk to her bedroom. "I'll be back in a minuet and then we can have a talk before bed."

"Fine by me"

Five minuets later Lara emerged from her bedroom with her hair in a high ponytail and she was wearing Kurtis' 'souvenir' T-shirt. She walked downstairs and sat next to Kurtis where two cups of coffee were waiting.

"Thanks" she said as she sat down. "Don't mention it, listen about Becky, if she runs into us again, I'm not sure if I can hold in my anger, she hurt you real bad and I can't get the picture out of my head." At the memory

tears began to well up in his eyes. Pull yourself together Trent, you don't cry, be a man. "It's OK Kurtis, I'm a big girl I can take care of myself."

"I know but what if you get into some real trouble and I'm not here to help you get outa it?"

"I don't need to be protected, thanks but no thanks."

"Lara, you even said yourself when we were kids that even YOU need help sometimes."

"Yes, and I'm not saying that I don't need or want your protection, but I was thirteen then you can't expect a child to know combat skills, a lot has happened in the years since we parted Kurtis." anger was becoming clear in Laras expression.

"Lara, I don't want to loose you just because you were stubborn enough to not except help."

"If I need help I'll ask for it, I'm a big girl now I can protect myself, I'm going to bed."

"Oh so that's how get out of trouble, you run away from your problems" Kurtis shouted after her as she walked up the stairs and slammed the door shut. He sighed and walked to his own room only to be awoken two hours later.

"Lara". Lara tossed and turned in her bed trying to stay asleep until the voice came again "Lara". "What the fuck does he want" she thought to herself as she sat up and her eyes slowly fluttered open. "He wants to protect you whether you like it or not, thank me later but now's not the time, there's mercenaries planted all over your house" "Kurtis?"

"Yep" "Where are you?" "Rutlands got me captured and I'm being held downstairs by two of the mercenaries, and better yet that bitch Becky's working for him, she's looking for you outside but I've gotta feeling she won't be out there much longer." "If your downstairs then how come your talking to me?" "It's one of my 'abilities', anyway get your pistols and a silencer, I've got my chirugai and they don't know what it is,yet, I'll guide you threw the house until we meet up, grab your back pack 'cause we're getting away for that Rose skull as soon as possible. Kay to start off there's two guards outside your bedroom, I'll distract the guards down here so you can get out, OK?"

"Fine and thanks, not just for this but for everything. I've gotta idea of how you can distract them and I'm also sorry."

"For what?"

"Not letting you protect me, I do need your help and I want it a lot as well 'cause I love you"

"I love you too, but can we get all kissy kissy once we're safe, anyway what's this plan of yours?"

"Sing"

"Sing what? But I've got to warn you I sound like a dying cat"

"You're probably not THAT bad, but just sing something simple like the Hokey Kokey"

"Fine but I'll probably deafen you"

"It's OK, I forgive you, see you in a minuet"

Lara hurried out of her bed and crept over to her dresser, opened the top drawer and fished out her twin pistols, her holsters and her backpack. She packed up a few clothes for her and Kurtis before putting a pair of sweats on underneath Kurtis' t-shirt. She creaked the door open to see two guards at either end of her door. She closed the door and walked over to her dressing table and opened her jewellery box. She fished out a small diamond earring, attached the silencer to her gun and opened the door. She lightly threw the earring to the left of the door. The guard to her left-hand side investigated the noise. Lara took the opportunity to get out of her room and slam a fist into the other guards stomach and then she kicked him in the groin sending him to the ground. He slammed the butt of his gun on Laras kneecap and it caused blood to flow. She winced in pain but sent her other foot to the top of his head, sending him unconscious. By this time the second guard had turned round only to see the barrel of Laras gun. "Nighty night" She whispered before firing her gun. The bullet landed at her direct target, between the mercenaries eyes. Using stealth she crept over to the banister and had to hold her mouth to stop from laughing. Kurtis was really pissing the guards off singing the Hokey Kokey

"You put your left arm in,

your left arm out,

in,out,in,out

shake it all about,

you do the Hokey Kokey and

you turn around,

that's what it's all about .

Oh Okey,-"

One of the guards sent a punch to Kurtis' back. He bent down on the ground, already being on his knees and looked upstairs to see a smiling Lara. He couldn't help but smile at seeing her grin. "Enough of this shit!" The other guard yelled. Kurtis winked at Lara, "You better appreciate this Lara" "I do, don't worry" "I'm sorry, do you not like this song, how about ring-a-ring-a-roses?" he asked innocently. "I love you" "How could you not, I'm devilishly handsome, charming and funny, but I love you too."

Kurtis began to sing again but this time Ring-a-ring-a-roses.

"Ring a ring a roses

a pocket full of -Agh!"

A guard sent the butt of his machine gun to Kurtis' head. Kurtis looked up at him with a deadly kill. If looks could kill he would definitely be six feet under. " Kurtis! Are you OK?" "I'm fine don't worry, these bastards don't know what's coming to them" "Right, but I'm coming downstairs to help you." "No, Lara don't! Their using me as bait, they'll kill you if you come down without getting rid of the rest of them, theres three of them in the study, two in my old room" he winked at Lara before continuing

" and about ten of them down here, and five outside". "Right I'll come down for you soon"

Lara watched as Kurtis continued to sing and couldn't help but let out a small laugh and then continued to the study. She took both her pistols out of their holsters and swung the Study door open. Her plan, run in guns blazing. But she could only see one guard, the other two were upstairs, probably guarding the entrance to her desk. The first guard had his back to her, she decided to put her guns away and use a more hand to hand approach. She tapped him on the shoulder and when he turned around she jamp into a twirling kick and it landed on his jawline. He landed with a 'thud' to the ground. Lara straddled him and sent blow after blow of punches to his face until he was unconscious. She stood up and took her guns out of their holsters once again. Quickly she ran upstairs while shooting at the mercenaries. One guard managed to get a bullet in her left arm and she screamed in pain. Kurtis heard this and immediately had to make sure that his girlfriend was OK. "Lara, you OK?" "Yeah. Just a small bullet in my arm nothing more" "Phew, well I can only hold these quards up for a little while longer." "It's OK, I should be done soo- AGH" "Lara!" " I'm fine that bastard bruised my stomach, hang on" Lara let go of Kurtis' mind and hit the one guard left to kill, in the back with the butt of her gun. He leant over and she sent three kicks to his stomach before shooting him in the head. "Right, that's him taken care of, I'm off to your room, what are they doing in there anyway?" "I think their searching for info on the LV, be careful" "Of course I will"

When Lara got into Kurtis' ex-room (wink,wink) no guards were there. She crept in silently and felt a hand cover her mouth and grab her waist. She was quick to react, however. She forced her elbow into the guards ribs and punched him in the mouth. He punched her in reply, with such force it split her lip. Quickly, she shot him in the heart and then she heard footsteps behind her. With the speed of light, Lara turned round and shot the other guard. Now to save Kurtis. "Yes now to save me" "Stop that!" "Sorry but I can't seem to be able to close the link, it's like it's meant to stay open between us" "That better not be a load of crap just so you can read my mind" "It's not honest" "Fine, just keep singing, I'll be there in a second"

Lara crept downstairs behind the guards and leant against the banisters. She took her guns out and casually folded her arms across her chest. "Excuse me, but do you mind letting my boyfriend go"she said simply as she spat blood out of her mouth. Brilliant, internal bleeding "Lara, as soon as we're outa here, i'm taking you to a hospital" Lara walked over to the two guards flashed a seductive smile at one and put her hand round his neck. "Lara, what the hell are you doing?" "What? I can't have a little bit of fun?" The smile on her face was wiped of as the guard leaned into kiss her. She took a step backwards, still holding the man's neck and forced his head to her knee, causing his head to bleed, she then kicked him in the stomach and shot him in the head. She turned to the other man and kicked him in the shin and then sent him to the ground by sending him another kick to his mid-section. Then she shot him in the chest before rushing to Kurtis' side.. She took her switch-blade out of her boot and cutting the ropes that were binding his hands together. She wiped the blood off of his mouth and kissed him lightly on the lips. When she drew back he pulled her closer to him and held her in a warm embrace before there was a roaring sound of gunshots. One landed in Kurtis' arm and another in Laras thigh. Kurtis sent his chirugai spinning towards the three guards, decapitated one and sent slashes through the others chests. He caught it before turning to Lara asking if she was alright. She nodded in reply and Kurtis helped a limping Lara to her feet. "I'll be back soon, I've gotta get my Boran X and then we can get the fuck out of here and get checked into a hospital"

"No, we don't have time, they'll find us, get your gun and then we'll take your bike and get checked into a hotel, I'll stay here and kill off any other mercenaries"

"Keep safe" he said before kissing her on the forehead and running to Laras bedroom. He was just about to exit the room when he heard Laras thoughts "Kurtis, help, there's too many mercenaries" "I'm coming"

He rushed downstairs only to see Lara being bet up by a guard. Two other guards were watching in amusement. He stood silently behind them before speaking up. "Get the FUCK away from her".

In reply one of the laughing guards shot at Kurtis. He missed by mere inches and Kurtis shot seven bullets at the guards. He stared daggers at the man that caused so much pain to Lara. He walked over to him casually and grabbed him by the throat. Kurtis shoved him against the wall. "I said stay the FUCK away from her".

"Aw, is the little boy protecting his wee girlfriend?"

Kurtis didn't answer but slammed a fist to the man's jaw. "You're gonna regret hurting her" he said in a vicious tone while tightening his grip on the man's throat. "I somehow doubt you'll be alive unless you apologize to her, so do it!"

"Say sorry, over my dead body!

"That can be arranged" he said while unclipping his chirugai from his belt. The blades appeared as if from nowhere and within seconds blood was pouring from the mercenaries mouth. Kurtis let him drop to the floor and then hurried over to Laras side. He lifted her into a sitting position. Tears were strolling down her face. "I feel like shit".

"It's OK, I'm gonna get you out of here, where does it hurt?"

"He bruised my ribs, cut my stomach and shot my other shoulder."

"That bastard"

"Don't worry, I'm fine, just get me out of here"

"Okay, but you can't do this to yourself anymore. C'mon I'll help you up." He helped Lara to her feet but she screamed in pain. "Right, put your arms around my neck, I'll lift you up". Kurtis lifted Lara into his arms Bridal style. He carried her into the garage. He set her down and mounted his bike, Lara straddled it behind him. She wrapped her arms around his waist and winced in pain. She could feel his heart beat against her chest. It felt although it was going to burst out, it was beating so fast. They opened the garage doors and exited Croft Manor riding into the night in search of somewhere safe to stay.

"Thanks"

"I'll tell you one thing, Rutland's gonna hurt A LOT more, I can't bear seeing you get hurt."

"It's OK" Lara said while rubbing his arm which made goosebumps rise on his arms.