"We're going to have to find the communications console... It'll look like a bunch of old switchboards. I'll know where to find it, lets go." He took my hand when he finished speaking, and instinctively we wove our fingers together. We continued along the trail up the mountain.

As we approached a small waterfall, I could hear voices in the distance. There were two small buildings, each on opposite sides of the stream extending from the waterfall. We wouldn't get past without being noticed. There were two armed men on the left and one on the right; Alex motioned for me to take on the one. Before planning my attack, I sneaked around some bushes to get behind him, then allowing my instincts to take over as I pulled my bow over his head. When the wood was tight against his neck, I yanked upward at an angle as I rotated the bow, and there was the loud crunch of his neck snapping. There were two gunshots almost immediately after that. The other two men had been eliminated.

I started walking over to Alex as some guilty thoughts ran through my head. I had just killed someone again, and so had Alex... It was a truly horrible thing to be responsible for.

"Are you okay, Alex?" I questioned in the softest tone I could manage.

"Not really. This doesn't exactly get any easier..." He responded.

I grabbed his hand and squeezed lightly as I spoke. "You and I both... We can keep each other sane, we just have to keep moving."

With that we got back on the trail to the radio tower. We soon came up to a really old bridge, and we were hesitant about crossing it. When we got half way across the whole thing started collapsing. Taking of running, we sped across. Jumping became the only option when the bridge was falling out from under us, so through the air we soared. Alex made it right across to land, but I wasn't so lucky. I flung my arms out wildly but all I could do was claw at the grass. When all seemed to be lost, I felt the comforting grasp of Alex's hands as he pulled me up.

"Shit! That was too close!" He exclaimed. He pulled me very close, and he calmed me down quite quickly. Suddenly, Reyes voice came through the radio. "Lara, Alex... Are you there?"

Alex responded. "Reyes!" He held the radio so we could both speak into it.

"Did you find Sam?" I inquired.

"Were still on her trail..." was her response.

"Alex and I are headed to an old radio tower to send out an SOS."

"Okay, good luck. I'm assuming you know what to do Alex?" said Reyes.

"Oh, yeah. I know what to do. We'll contact you when we're done." Alex affirmed before clicking off the radio. We continued walking and came across another rope we could use as a zip line. So I jumped on Alex's back as we grabbed the edges of the ax handle and walked off the edge. There was a very unstable landing, and we tumbled onto the ground.
I was on top of him, so I asked, "Did you do that on purpose. Alex?" He looked up at me to see I was smiling. I leaned down and started kissing him as he ran his hands through my hair. We snapped back to our situation when we heard voices again. Well, at least they didn't sneak up on us. That seemed to be our job now.

There were several armed men this time, and this was the only way forward. I knew what I had to do; I grabbed my bow. One was sitting apart from the others, so I took him out first. Then I went for one of the other four when the three weren't looking.

"Jim! Fuck, somebody killed Jim!" cried one of them. They were on to us. Alex whipped out his gun and took two of them out. I lined up my arrow, and aiming at the last man standing, I delivered a fatal blow into his neck. It was incredibly disturbing to see his arms thrashing around as blood sprayed from the wound while he screamed and coughed it up also. To divert my attention, Alex started joking as he hugged me.

"Well clearly you passed the archery exam," he said. It wasn't even that funny, but a laugh forced itself out. Alex was always able to do that somehow.

When reaching the point where the men were standing, we saw our way onward. There was a tone of rock with a small opening toward the middle. I had already done this the other day, so I went right through. Alex inched through behind me. Now there was an a way forward and an alcove in the rock, but we needed a break so I went to the alcove. I'm sure it was gladly that Alex followed me. We scavenged some wood, and Alex pulled out a lighter to start the fire.

"Its a good thing those goons didn't take this from me a few days back!" he commented. Then we sat down to rest and I pulled out the camera.

"The other day when I was alone, watching these videos was the closest thing to comfort I could get," I explained as I switched on the camera and resumed from where I stopped before. We laid down and curled together as we watched, and I gladly welcomed Alex's arm as it wrapped around my waist.

Grim was telling a story. 'So I was on the Loch right, doin' a sport of midnight fishing, when this thing comes loomin' at me, loomin' out of the water it was! So I gives it the old Glassgow kiss, you know..." He leaned forward a little and dipped his head slightly. 'Gets you out of trouble nine times out of ten, that does!... Yeah... It took me a week to sleep that night off, and I've not touched a drop since!'

The next scene was one I had filmed, and Alex was next to me filming it with the much bigger camera we had on the Endurance. Jonah was teaching the incompetent Whitman how to prepare fish, which was actually quite amusing.

The scene shifted to a conversation between Roth and I, which I had no idea Sam filmed. 'I've studied them so much, I can see the charts on the back of my eyelids... But if I'm not right about Yamatai being in the Dragon's Triangle...'

'You've got great instincts, Lara. You just need to trust them.'

'That's what my father uses to say.'

'And he would've been proud of you.'

I turned off the camera and set it down as I turned toward Alex so our faces were hardly an inch apart. I briefly gazed into his eyes before our lips crashed together harmoniously. As I advanced past his lips we both tightened our grip on each other. We stayed at it for a long time until we needed to pull away for air.

"You know, for a minute there I forgot we were on an island full of homicidal psychopaths! That was amazing."

"Yeah, I concur L.C. We need to do that more often, but we should get some rest. Oh, and Roth was right, by the way," he determined. I laid next to him and relaxed my head on his chest.

"I love you so much..." Alex murmured sleepily.

"Well I love you way more," I said back with a grin. I gripped him tightly and he followed in suit. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight Lara". Sleep swiftly came upon us as we rested there together. My dreams were laced with my memories with Alex.

When I was a senior in high school, my parents went missing. It was then that Roth (a family friend) became my guardian. A few years later, during the summer before my last year of college, Roth introduced me to his best friend's son, who happened to be Alex. We hit it off from the start, and it was not surprising that we started dating soon after that. It was a consistent relationship throughout the year, and I begged Roth to bring him on-board with the Yamatai expedition, which began a couple weeks after graduation. During the three weeks we spent traveling on the Endurance, Alex and I would plan dates at each place we stopped.

I was suddenly pulled out of my wonderful dream, but my happiness returned when I saw and felt Alex. He was still sleeping, but I woke him with a kiss. "Good morning."

"Good morning, beautiful," returned Alex. He waited before adding "As much as I hate to say this, we really should head to the radio tower."

We both got up, but I stopped Alex before he started walking by placing my hands on his shoulders, and then I gave him a kiss, pushing hard against his lips. I brought one hand to his face gently, then I pulled away just enough so I could look in his eyes. "You and I... We stick together. No matter what." I stated.

"I wouldn't want it any other way. I wouldn't even consider leaving you," he promised. His eyes showed how sincere his words were, and that he wasn't just talking about on this island.

"So this is going to be a long term relationship then... ."

"Hell yes, Lara... Preferably as long term as possible. I know there are better times to have this conversation, but if we don't make it off this island I need you to know that I would spend the rest of my life with you."

"Oh, Alex!" I blushed. I paused for a moment. "I feel the same way... Now lets get off this damn island so we can live our lives."

"That's some damn good motivation!" Alex shot back enthusiastically. "Let's get this show on the road!"

I held his head in my hands as we had another intense lip-lock. "I still love you more," I said, holding back a laugh

"I'm not sure if its possible for anyone to love somebody more than I love you, L.C." He replied.

We held each other there for a moment. When we were ready, we grabbed each others hand and started off toward the radio tower again.

Up the mountain trail we hiked for hours, until we approached a massive World War II era bunker right by the radio tower. We had company. We quickly got behind a truck, narrowly missing bullets. Stealth was not an option. Alex poked his arm out and pulled it back. He waited for the firing to cease before peering around the truck and firing several rounds.

"Okay, I think I got one of them." Just as he said that, somebody came around the other side of the truck. My gun was already out so I took him down. This time we both went out from cover as we shot at our opponents, and a couple more of them went down. We got back behind the truck, but Alex took a shot in his hip before getting to safety.

"Fuck! That hurts!" He hissed. That was it; these assholes were going to pay right now. I grabbed my bow and went back out. Time seemed to stand still as I shot the remaining three men in the head. I know it was wrong, but in that moment it felt so good to hurt the people that hurt Alex. I went back to him.

"Alright love, lets get this wound cleaned up..." I pulled out some bandages. The bullet went straight through, so at least I would have to go digging around for it. He yelled when I cleaned it with alcohol, but after that he was fine. When I was done I caressed him lovingly.

"Thanks L.C.," said Alex, "Just like old times, huh?"

"I'm just glad you didn't get killed..." I sighed, relieved.

"The console should be in this building somewhere... but lets be careful, there could be some of those men in there," replied Alex. Cautiously, we entered the building. "This way!" said Alex, grabbing my hand as he lead me down a corridor straight ahead. There was a door ahead and another on the right, but we went through the one on the right. There was a giant window in the room, showing the next two rooms ahead. The one in the middle had windows on both sides. We walked into the middle room, but the door to the third was jammed. Then a man appeared on the other side of the glass, with a gas mask on and some sort of contraption in his hands.

"There's nowhere to run, outsiders!" he screamed as he let off a bunch of yellow gas. It was already coming into the room with Alex and I. We ran back to the previous room as I searched frantically for something to stop the gas. Suddenly Alex picked up some kerosene lamp from the wall and threw it into the next room. There was an explosion of flames as the room was blown to bits. We could now walk right through.

As we walked through the third room, our attacker was laying on the ground. His flesh was all burnt off and bloody, with bones exposed in some areas.
"Please, just kill me. End it already!" he begged desperately. Seemingly without hesitation, Alex shot him, killing him instantly.

In the next room there was a large stairway. When we got to the top we approached what I assumed was the communications console... but it was a wreck. Alex facepalmed.
"Damn it. Now were going to have to patch in manually through the maintenance panel."

"Hey. We can do it, Alex... the towers right outside."

"Yes, but we need to get really high up."

"... How high are we talking?"

"Really high. Were talking about the top of the tower. We can both go up to a certain point, but from then on it will be a one person trip."

"I'll do i-"

"No."

Yes, Alex. I'm lighter so I have less a chance of breaking the rings on that ladder, which you said yourself is really old."

"Fair point. Well lets get out there then."

We went back and left the building. The tower was right there, so we walked over and climbed the first ladder. I went first and then Alex.

"Its a nice view from here!" Alex laughed.

I laughed also. I yelled at him, faking an angry voice. "Stop looking at my ass, Alex!"

"I actually wasn't... But hey, thanks for that idea!"

I waited for Alex at the top. I was going to punch him in the shoulder playfully, but I noticed the uneasy look in his face. He was joking around back there just to calm himself down.

"Okay, this is it. All you need to do is tune the radio once you get up there," Alex expressed sounding a bit unsure, "Please be really careful, if you fall..." He couldn't finish the sentence. I don't think he wanted to think about what would happen to me if I fell; I didn't blame him.

"I'll be careful, and I'll be right back... Love you" I reassured him as I brought my lips against his.

It wasn't a particularly difficult climb, but still I used extreme caution... especially as I got closer to the top. I didn't dare look down once. I was almost there when a rung broke. I launched myself off the rung I was standing on and quickly grabbed the next one up. There were no further issues the rest of the way there. I stood on a small platform at the top, and there was a box in front of me. Inside was the radio, with dials and indicators to tune frequency. It was easy to do, but it still took forever. Nonetheless, I eventually reached a tuning where I could hear voices clearly. I pulled out the radio from Roth.

"Mayday, mayday! This is Lara Croft of the Endurance. We are stranded on an island in the Dragon's Triangle. We need help and medical supplies, please respond."

"This is aircraft N177A. Searching for you since your the distress call from your vessel, almost given up hope! We've got your approximate location... But we could sure use a visual."

"I'll figure something out"

"Good, headed your way right now!"

I started the journey back. When I got to the broken rung I just reached down to the next one carefully. I continued down to where Alex was. There was a loud breath of relief.

"Thank god your okay!" Alex exclaimed, "What happened?"

"I got a hold of somebody, they're in the area and on their way! We need to make some kind of signal, fast!"

We climbed back down quickly and searched around back on the ground before coming to our best option. There were several tanks of fuel. If we could ignite the substance we would have our signal. So we sliced them open. When we finished, Alex pulled out his lighter.

"Alright, here goes nothing. We need to run when I light it!" Alex yelled. He ignited some of the fuel on the ground and grabbed my hand as we got the hell out of there.

In a few minutes, we saw an aircraft heading our way. But just when we thought we were the luckiest people alive, colossal bolts of lightning ripped through the air. They struck the aircraft, and the pilot ejected himself as the vehicle spiraled out of control and crashed into some trees nearby. The pilot got carried away in the wind, higher up the mountain than our location.

"We have to go find him... Before the other people do!" I shrieked.