Hello everyone, it's been awhile! I'm very sorry about another long pause. (Likely not the last one.) :/ But I hope that this longer chapter (the longest I've written so far!) can make it up to you at least a little bit. I hope you'll like it! :)

My sincere thanks goes to everybody who has showed me their support in some way! :) And also to everyone else who took their time to read my work. :)

The most special thanks and my endless gratitude goes once again to gyikhu for beta reading and everything else.

Disclaimer: All rights (Lara Croft and Tomb Raider) belonged or belongs to Core Design, Eidos Interactive, Crystal Dynamics and Square Enix. I do not own any of the characters except the original ones who appear in this story.

I make absolutely no profit from this fanfiction. (Except from fan's happiness.)

Chapter 7: Questions and Answers

They were walking in silence at first, both in their own thoughts, until Kurtis spoke.

"I'm glad to see you're okay," he said.

"I could say exactly the same thing," Lara answered without looking at her companion.

"I really didn't want to let you face him alone in there."

She turned her head to him this time. "There wasn't much other choice." Then she looked back to the ground ahead of her. "It appeared to be the most logical solution at that moment."

"Yeah, probably. But still..."

"We are here," Lara announced in front of one of the higher buildings as she reached for the handle, opening the main door.

Then they both entered.

As the pair was passing by the reception, Lara, followed by Kurtis, nodded at the receptionist on duty. A blonde-haired woman around her thirties curiously lifted her stare from the book she was reading and let her eyes dwell on the American, who ignored her look, for a longer moment. Then she returned back to her reading.

With Lara leading the way, they went up the staircase to the second floor where she stopped in front of one of the doors. Kurtis leaned his shoulder against the wall beside and watched the British woman reaching into her pocket for the key and then inserting it into the lock. The door opened.

"Come in," she said politely.

The American entered the room and closed the door behind them.

She switched on the light, took off her coat and put it on the backrest of the armchair. Then she motioned Kurtis to take a seat opposite to her.

"So," she started as they sat down. "I suppose that the main reason why you want to speak with me is that you want to know how it went with Eckhardt, right?"

Kurtis was looking at her for a while. To Lara, it appeared as if he was about to add something else, but then he just nodded.

"Yeah, basically," he said in a neutral voice.

Maybe it was just my imagination, Lara thought.

"I will tell you about it. But first, I want to hear what happened to you after our ways parted. And especially, how did you manage to get away from there. There was so much blood..."

Kurtis sighed. "Alright. I'll start then." He clasped his hands together and slightly leaned forward in his seat, resting his forearms on his legs. "Well, the certain information about the Cabal's scientists developing some kind of a special substance in the Strahov laboratories got to me earlier. It was connected to their Nephilim and immortality research. Naturally, it was meant for the use for their soldiers, or possibly all people working for Eckhardt and the Cabal. Originally it was supposed to improve the efficiency of their military force. More specifically, give them more strength, speed and endurance. Its development was still in progress. So, so far they accomplished that it only helps in healing injuries. Even normally lethal ones. Not completely, they didn't get there yet, but it was helping significantly. There weren't even many samples of it existing. I managed to find it and use it."

Lara only nodded.

"I was weak. The wound I got from the fight with that goddamn bug woman was serious. I could hardly drag myself outta there. I couldn't follow you."

"I see."

"To be honest," he carried on, "I'm not very happy about being kept alive by something made under Eckhard's command, but... Well. The damage has been done. I needed to make sure that his disgusting existence was ended."

"How did you know that it was... safe?" she asked carefully.

"I got information that many tests took place and some of their men even used it themselves, and it worked without any side effects in long-term time. And I didn't have much to lose, did I?"

"Probably not."

"On top of it, the main base of it was only remotely based on the Nephilim DNA, but made from a scratch. So, it was a relatively safe option."

"Those are very detailed information," Lara stated.

"I've dedicated quite a lot time to this matter."

The young woman couldn't shake off the feeling that he was not telling her everything, but she dismissed the thought.

I'm probably just being paranoid.

"And then?"

"Then?" he repeated. "Well, as soon as it was possible I was looking for you."

"That's not what I mean. You said that it only helps in healing. And now you are sitting here as if nothing happened."

"Well..." the American paused for a moment, as if there was something he was hesitating to tell her about. He grimaced and tilted his head, clearly considering what information he was willing to share with her at this point.

"You've surely noticed that some things around me are not completely normal, right?"

"I have. And? You can heal yourself?"

"Kind of. Or better said, something like that."

Lara lifted her eyebrows in question.

"Let's just say that I know a way how to get more, well, you could say energy, when needed. It made the healing process faster, and visibly more effective. But it still lasted for the most of those days we haven't seen each other. And I'll be left with another pretty scar."

She cast her eyes down.

"May I?" Kurtis prepared his lighter and a cigarette.

"What do you think?" Lara asked with a stern expression and voice.

He sighed, irritated. "Okay..." he said and reluctantly put both objects back into the front pocket of his jacket. "So?"

"So what?" she looked at him in puzzlement.

"You went after Eckhardt, and...?"

"Okay. Well,..." she took a deep breath. "You can relax. He won't hurt anyone ever again. The Shards worked on him and the Sleeper was destroyed. As far as I know it's over. The Cabal has no reason to exist anymore. It all ended."

"Could you expand on it a little bit?"

"Of course. After we split up, I followed Eckhardt into his lab. Naturally I had to overcome some traps to get there. Then I managed to obtain the third Shard. When I finally caught up with him, he was finishing the preparations for awakening the Sleeper and had the Sanglyph already completed. But I still got there in time. When he noticed me, he kept babbling something about how no one can stop him and so on." Lara left out the Black Alchemist's remark about the Lux Veritatis on purpose, supposing that Kurtis would prefer not to hear it. "He was too sure of himself," she carried on, "thinking that I am no threat to him even with the Periapt Shards. He wasn't thinking very highly of me and it got me angry," she said, trying to light the gloomy atmosphere at least a little bit. Unsuccessfully.

"Anyway," Lara continued, realizing it was not the best time for jokes. "After he saw I had the Shards, we started fighting. He set up some kind of a barrier around the arena similar to one where I left you, and started attacking me with a strange energy. I quickly realized that basically I just had to be very careful not to get hit by that power too often. It was quite painful. Eckhardt was also creating his clones, or probably better said something like holograms I guess. Of course they were dangerous too. But there was a way how to overcome it all. With a good tactic. The rest was work of guns and ammunition. Somehow I managed to evade most of his attacks and then got close enough to him to use the Shards."

Kurtis showed no emotion during her monologue. He was sitting with his head slightly bowed, his eyes fixed on the floor all the time.

"And that's what I did. One by one, every time I got the chance during that tough fight. The first one, the second one, and then I... he... I... I..." she stammered. She cleared her throat and slightly shook her head.

I think it would be better if I leave out some details. For his own good.

"Used the third," Lara picked up where she left off. "And..." she paused for a moment, "it worked. After that I used the Sanglyph to destroy the Sleeper. Then everything blew up in some weird light energy. The Sanglyph was apparently a very powerful artifact."

The American was now carefully observing her. "Is that all?"

"Yes," she answered with determination, aware of the fact she had been actually lying, not wanting him to notice it.

It's over. Why complicate things? It doesn't matter anymore anyway, she told to herself.

"Well, after that I willingly went to the police. As you can see, they let me go in the end."

He kept watching her closely for a longer moment, as if analyzing her face. She calmly held his gaze.

"Right," he said, still not taking his eyes off her.

Starting to feel uneasy with his penetrating and searching gaze, Lara spoke again. "At the police station I got to know that some explosions took place in the fortress. I guess that mercenaries cleaned up their mess like that."

He lowered his gaze. "Yeah, that fits," he muttered.

After a minute of silence, Lara added: "Without the Shards, it would have been a short fight with a clear outcome. Eckhardt was indeed a very powerful enemy."

Kurtis was thoughtfully looking down at his clasped hands for a second and then let out a deep breath. "Okay," he said more to himself then to her and after a short pause looked back up at her. "My Chirugai?"

She furrowed her eyebrows. "Excuse me?"

"My weapon. I thought you'd know," he said matter-of-factly.

"I see. You mean the thing you almost beheaded me with at the Louvre. Of course I do know," Lara said sarcastically. "How could I forget?" she muttered at last.

"Fine. Could you give it back to me?"

"Well, I..." she started as she looked aside and nervously shifted in her seat.

He was looking into nothingness for a moment, concentrating to feel the unique connection he had with his trusty weapon. Then he looked back at her with a deep frown on his face. "Where is it? You have it, right?... Lara?" he said her name more strongly, with hints of nervousness in his voice.

Lara oddly realized that it was the first time she heard him pronounce her first name. "I..." she started again, not sure how to continue. "I don't have it with me."

"You didn't leave it back there, did you? Just don't tell me you've lost it or sold it or somethin'," he said, irritated.

"No. And not exactly."

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked impatiently, his frown growing.

"I sent it by mail to England, so the police wouldn't get their hands on it." Lara let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding.

His eyes widened and he gave her a look of total disbelief. "You did what?"

"Hell, I know how many people were killed by it in the Strahov," Lara said in defence, expecting him to explode with rage any second. Rightfully.

"You sent a hundreds of years old weapon by mail?!" he shouted, agitated, seemingly still not fully processing what she had just said. He stood up and paced to calm down. "Geez," he rubbed his face. "Let an aristocrat do something important. And top of it, an English lady," he muttered.

The last remark made Lara jump from her seat. "Excuse me?!" her voice also grew significantly louder. "That English lady saved your ass by exchanging the painting for you, defeated Eckhardt and then was searching for you in Strahov maybe even for hours and you say this?!"

He took a breath and wanted to react, but she didn't let him speak.

"You should be grateful," she said coldly. "I couldn't have known how many people you decapitated with it and I guess you wouldn't be very happy if the police got it. On top of it, I had enough murders on my account by that time already, and didn't feel the need to add yours as well."

"Okay. I see," Kurtis said in a peaceful tone.

"That's all?" she asked, clearly taken aback by his now again perfectly calm and controlled voice.

"Yeah, I understand your reasoning. You probably did the right thing. Thanks."

That left Lara speechless for a moment. "You are welcome," she said unsurely at last.

"And calm down. I didn't say that much."

"I am calm."

"Right. From now on I will remember that this is your calm state."

She shook her head with a sigh. "Look, it should be in England within a week, more or less, so you can just..." she slightly threw up her hands and looked out from the window.

"Then I guess I'll see you in England," Kurtis said and turned to leave.

"Wait!" Lara called out after him.

He looked at her questioningly.

"Do you want to stay for a drink?"

"You want me to stay for a drink?" he asked in bewilderment. "Like really?"

"What's so surprising about it?"

"Well..." Kurtis put on a smug expression as he sat back down and sprawled against the backrest of the armchair.

"You are the only one I can talk about all this," Lara continued, unamused by his overacting.

"Ah, this..." Kurtis said with obviously faked disappointment in his voice as he sat exactly as before. "You were supposed to talk to the police, weren't you?"

"Like I could tell them everything. And on top of that, they are not allowed to drink at work, you know."

"Got it."

"And I didn't want to end up in a madhouse," she noted as she headed for the small cabinet. She took out two glasses and a bottle.

"Is red wine is okay? It should be since I noticed that you were enjoying it in the Café metro," she said, putting the glasses on the small table between them.

"Back then I thought it's gonna be my last one." Kurtis looked at her searchingly. "You're observant," he said without any hint of sarcasm in his voice.

She sat back down and started filling the glasses. "I'm still kind of—"

"Confused about everything?" he finished for her.

She looked at him and put the bottle on the table. "Yes. Pretty much."

"I know the feeling."

"Care to enlighten me?"

"I have no idea why you're so sure I know everything. What exactly do you wanna know?"

"You can start with your extraordinary powers for example." She took a gulp and looked at him.

He chuckled. "We don't know each other for that long." He comfortably leaned against the backrest. "For you to know all of my 'specialities', you know," he said with an arrogant smirk, clearly enjoying the double meaning tone.

"You mean that seriously? Such a show-off? The way you behave doesn't really scream 'shy guy' to me. Really not. And just let me mention that we didn't know each other at all for you to touch me like that back at the Louvre either."

He smirked. "Ah, that. Please don't hold a grudge against me because of that. It was just a too good opportunity to be wasted. I just couldn't help it," he said lightly.

"Well, you should learn to resist temptations in your life, or you will get into trouble soon."

"That is someone else's speciality," he muttered quietly and took a sip.

Lara sent him an angry look.

"C'mon," he said quickly. "You didn't look like someone who would get a shock from that."

She narrowed her eyes. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Well, for example, in Paris you were asking around every single person including me. That's not something an overly shy type of person would do. Definitely not your case."

"It was necessary for me to gain information and—"

"Just forget it," he said and dismissingly waved his hand. "You know what? We could make a deal. One question for one full answer. Are you in?"

"Deal," she said simply.

"Ladies go first."

"Okay, then tell me about your weapon," Lara spoke without hesitation.

"Alright. This gun is—" he started, reaching for his firearm.

"I didn't mean your pistol," she interrupted him.

He let his hand drop down.

"I must admit I'm interested in that, too. I've never seen this exact type of gun before. I guess it's custom made or at least modified. But since I can ask one question only, I want to know more about the disc that almost beheaded me at the Louvre."

He grinned. "You obviously can't forget about our little Louvre episode."

"It's hard to forget a near death experience. Even though I'm kind of used to it, it doesn't happen often that my head is almost rolling on the floor of a famous museum for more than once in a single day..."

"I wasn't referring to this part of our encounter."

"I was. Because there was nothing else worth mentioning."

"Ouch. You've just hurt my feelings."

"I seriously doubt it. And stop talking like there was ever something between us."

"There was."

"It seems to me that you are not used to drink alcohol. It was just the strange behaviour of your kleptomaniacal hands. Nothing else. Nothing important. Nothing to think about. Just like I said. Nothing worth mentioning."

He smiled cockily as if saying 'I know you enjoyed it'.

She frowned at him in return.

"Okay, okay. I'll stop that." He held up his hands in surrender. "Just don't start to be calm again," he added.

Lara frustratingly shook her head and looked aside.

"Look, telling you about it basically means the same thing as talking about my powers. And I'm more than sure that you realize that very well. Trying to outsmart me?"

She breathed in to say something, but he continued.

"But fine. Since I've suggested this our little game, I guess I should tell you something about it. It's called the Chirugai. It's one of ancient weapons of the Lux Veritatis. Like the Periapt Shards. As you've probably figured out, I can move it and use it telekinetically."

"How?"

"It's hard to explain exactly. It's connected to my mind somehow. Only a Lux Veritatis member can properly control it, and it's possible only after training."

"Was it difficult to learn to use it?"

"It wasn't easy. And it takes a lot of time. It's a long process. In terms of years."

"What is it made of? I guess it's not just some common type of metal, is it?"

"As far as I know, the material it's made of is very rare. It was gained from a meteorite alloy."

She nodded.

"I guess that's basically all I can say about it."

"Are there more of them?" she asked.

He slightly narrowed his eyes, and hesitated for a moment. "It's... possible," he said neutrally, studying her face.

"Okay," she nodded again, visibly satisfied with the answers. "Your question?"

"Can I ask whatever I want?"

"That was our deal," Lara stated. "Within the boundaries of good manners of course," she added quickly.

"Right," he grimaced. "What's hiding behind your 'personal reasons' that got you into this mess?"

The hint of a slight smile on her face disappeared immediately. She briefly paused. "My friend was killed."

"That professor...?" he asked and waited for her to continue.

"Yes," she said quietly. "He was my friend. A good friend but..." she took a deep breath and then continued. "But we weren't on best terms recently." Her voice slightly quivered. She cleared her throat to hide her weakness, persuading herself that it had nothing to do with the anxious feeling inside her. "When Eckhardt killed him, I mean—" she quickly stopped herself before she said something she didn't want him to know.

Too late starting with that now.

"When he died..." she swallowed and paused for a moment. "A moment before it happened we had been arguing. It wasn't nice." She lifted her eyes and looked at him. "I thought you knew. The papers were full of it."

"I've just heard that Eckhard killed some professor and the police was blaming you. I didn't know he was a friend of yours."

"Did you think that I would undergo all of this because of someone I hardly knew?"

He shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe. I thought you would take it simply as something like 'the search of truth' or 'let's get the murderer' or something like that."

"A long time ago... maybe," she said more to herself that to him, looking thoughtfully into nothingness.

"You alright?" Kurtis asked.

"I'm fine. Now you can tell me about the gun," she said, quickly trying to change the topic.

He unholstered his weapon and weighted it in his hand. "You've guessed right, it's custom made. A prototype. You really couldn't have seen it anywhere before. It's quite effective and in my life often very useful. I've created it myself. It uses High Impact 9mm ammo. Named it Boran X."

"Can I take a look?" she asked and slightly outstretched her hands toward the object.

"Hmm." He looked at her with narrowed eyes. "Only if you promise you won't try to endanger me with it."

She looked at him a little bit playfully. "I promise."

He smiled ever so slightly and handed the gun to her, the handle first.

She was examining the object with admiration. "Impressive. You seem to be really skilful. It's a nice piece. That reminds me," she looked him directly in the eyes, "you owe me two pistols." She handed the Boran X back to him. "And that's not all."

He grimaced and took the weapon back from her, putting it back into the shoulder holster. "Maybe I will make it up to you someday in the future. But right now, I really need to have this beauty with me. Which means I can offer you only one gun right now. And drawing paintings is not really my thing either. Sorry 'bout that."

"I will leave it. For now."

"Thank for you indulgence, Lady Croft."

"You're welcome, Mr. Trent. It's your turn now. Shoot."

"Why were you looking for me?"

She was a bit taken aback by his choice of question, but still managed to react quickly. "Enough people died because of all of this already, don't you think?"

"Yeah, I can't argue with that, but that doesn't really answer my question."

"Since I got into this mess, everyone around me just kept dying. I wanted that at least one good thing would come out of it."

"You did a good thing. Eckhardt is dead. The evil he and his group brought is gone thanks to you. Isn't it more than enough?"

"Destroying evil is a good thing, but it's still just destroying. Saving someone's life is about something totally different."

"Well, you destroy evil to save lives, don't you?"

"That's true, but it's different for me when I know the concrete person."

"Yeah," he said, nodding. "Probably."

"And, I just somehow thought that you didn't deserve to die."

To Lara's confusion, he looked very amused. "Where did you get that? You couldn't have known that. You still can't."

"You're right. But you saved my life. And I thought that you deserved to know at least that your quest had been fulfilled. I thought you simply had a right to know that Eckhardt is dead, and not only because of your father. I thought that you should know it also as the last member of the Lux Veritatis. That's who you are, aren't you? The last one."

"I thought you'd figure it out."

"How did you manage to escape from the Cabal and survive till now?"

"It's a really long story. A long and dark story."

"And I guess you are not into telling me it now...?"

"Bingo."

"Maybe some other day you could tell me about it."

"Maybe. But I think you've had enough, with all this stuff and everything for some time now. Your next question?"

"Would have you come back for me to the airlock in the Strahov if I hadn't had the Shard with me there?"

"You don't have to believe me, but I would have."

"Why?"

"Well, in case I wouldn't have succeeded in killing Eckhardt, I wouldn't have wanted to let you die there, like that. By Eckhardt or the Cabal's hands, or by hunger and thirst. I knew you were innocent. It just wouldn't have been right."

"I take it."

"Why did you exchange the painting for my life?" he asked right away.

"We were a team. I'm not used to leaving people behind. That's one of the worst forms of betrayal in my eyes."

"I don't really agree with that decision, by the way. Just to let you know."

"Luckily it wasn't up to you back then and no one asks you about your opinion now."

He smirked. "You know, you are doing great for what you just went through last days."

"It's not the first time I've encountered something... extraordinary. That's all."

"No offence, but it's kinda funny that it was someone like you who ended all this and finished the task given so many centuries ago. Someone who got into this just by accident. It's like a big slap from fate, or whatever it is. Not that I believe in it, but... Some things are often too weirdly obvious for them to be just a pure coincidences. Like this one," he said, rubbing his tired face. "What an irony."

"Maybe. But you are wrong. It ended by our hands, not just mine. As much as I don't want to admit it, I most likely wouldn't have been able to follow through with it to the end."

"You don't have to console me. I don't need any psychological nursing. I'm far from an emotional breakdown. I assure you."

Lucky you. I wish I could say the same, she thought sadly.

"I'm definitely not trying to do that. I don't think you need it. And on top of it, it's not my style to do anything like that."

"Pity. Now thinking about it, a nurse uniform could quite suit you."

Her eyes narrowed. "You are getting on thin ice, Trent," she said icily.

"Yeah, seems like it. The highest time for me to go. It's late." He finished his glass and stood up.

It made Lara automatically rise from her seat too.

"I should probably thank you," Kurtis said.

"There's no need for it. I mainly wanted to avenge my friend. And it's good in general that someone like Eckhardt is not walking on this world anymore, so..."

"Yeah, you're definitely right in this one."

This time it was Lara who extended her hand towards him. "Thanks for helping me get away from Boaz and enabling me to go on with our task... of avenging the people we cared about."

He took her hand and shook it. Then they somehow reluctantly let go. The pair went to door and stopped in front of it.

Lara cleared her throat. "Should I write you my address so you would know where to collect your disc?" she asked.

"I will find it. And you. You're quite famous now."

"As you wish. Bye then," she opened the door. "For now."

"See ya later," he said with a wink and left the room.

She shook her head in slight amusement, catching herself smiling again after a long time, and closed the door behind him.

Who are you really, Kurtis Trent? Lara thought as she walked over to the window and watched him leaving the hotel.

In front of the building Kurtis seemingly looked up right at her and saluted her just as in the Strahov fortress. Then he walked away along the street.

The gesture left Lara wondering if he could actually see her standing behind the curtain in the other room with the lights turned off, even though she was sure that he couldn't.